News

FEMISE study: What can we learn from the medical brain drain across the Mediterranean?

12-06-2012

Syrians, Lebanese, Moroccans … Who are these doctors who decide to pack up and practise in Europe? What are their motivations? How can countries witnessing this brain drain take advantage of this expatriation? The EU-funded Euro-Mediterranean Forum of Economic Institutes of Sciences (FEMISE) has published a research report addressing the subject.
 
The ambition of a better life, living conditions, a good salary, a well-developed education system, proximity to the country of origin are among the reasons that motivate doctors from the Middle East, the Maghreb Region and Eastern Europe to emigrate to Europe, according to the FEMISE study. “Applicants are initially attracted by the relative advantages offered by the EU countries. Earning more allows them to have a more comfortable life. But one must also consider the non-monetary benefits, such as the opportunity to develop professionally and build a career”, stresses Driouchi Ahmed, Professor of Economics at Al Akhawayn University, in Morocco, and author of the report.
 
Entitled “What can be learnt from the new economics of emigration of medical doctors to the European Union: The cases of East and Central European, Middle Eastern and North African Economies”, the FEMISE study explains that it’s a two-tier system of migration. Doctors from the Middle East and the Maghreb area do not often benefit from a system of equivalence of qualifications. Upon arrival in Europe, they might occupy junior positions while waiting to obtain equivalences and take admission tests.
 
The major objective of this research is to investigate how the new economics of skilled labour migration focusing on medical doctors can provide new economic and policy avenues that can strengthen the collaboration between Northern and Southern economies. 
 
The overall outcomes of this research are that, within the global health systems, it is possible to initiate further cooperative frameworks where countries and regions can accelerate collaborations. This type of collaboration is to be built around domestic medical education and health research systems. Specific and targeted policies could be initiated within the North-South dialogue. Incentives are to be developed such that medical doctors can be mobilized to join the South to contribute to the promotion of medical knowledge and practices in relation to the specificities of different countries. 
 
FEMISE is an EU-funded project, which aims to contribute to the reinforcement of dialogue on economic and financial issues in the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy and the Union for the Mediterranean. More specifically, it seeks to improve understanding of the priority stakes in the economic and social spheres, and their repercussions on the Mediterranean partners in the framework of their implementation of EU Association Agreements and Action Plans. (EU Neighbourhood Info)
 
Read more
 
FEMISE Study
 
FEMISE – fiche and news
 
FEMISE – website
 


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