Factors predicting the motivation to study abroad in Turkish medical students: a causal investigation into the problem of brain drain

Abstract

Aim: We aimed to examine the frequency of plans to practice medicine abroad in medical school students and the related variables, in relation to the recently increasing brain drain in physicians in our country. Material and Method: A total of 82 volunteer students in the 5th and 6th grades were included in the study. Our study is a descriptive and cross-sectional study. A questionnaire was directed to the participants about sociodemographic data, attitudes towards the medical profession, the reasons that make it difficult to practice medicine in our country, the idea of ​​working abroad, and the attractive features of abroad opportunities for students. In addition, the World Health Organization Quality-of-Life Scale (WHOQOL-Bref) to measure the quality of life of the students and the Perceived Stress Scale-14 (PSS-14) to measure the stress level were applied. The data were analyzed in SPSS (21.0) program. Results: 56% Of the participants were female (n=46), 44% (n=39) were male, and the mean age was 24.07 ±1.65. Majority of the students (94%, n=77) stated that they thought of doing medicine abroad, and nearly half of them (46%, n=38) stated that they were determined on this issue. The answers given by the students to the question why they preferred medical school were as follows: Job guarantee (79%), income comfort (77%) and prestige (70%). Majority of the participants stated that they felt regret from time to time for choosing medical school (58.5%, n=48) and 45% (n=37) stated that they thought of leaving medical school in the past. The following answers were frequently given to the question of the most important reasons that make it difficult to practice the profession of medicine in our country: Heavy working conditions and long working hours (90%), verbal/physical violence against physicians (87%), mobbing and pressure applied by seniors/administrators in the workplace. (67%). The countries respondents considered to immigrate frequently were: Germany, UK and USA. The mean PSS-14 score of the participants was found to be 1.98±0.49, and there was no significant difference between those who thought to practice medicine abroad and those who did not. In the Pearson correlation test, it was determined that there was a significant and negative correlation between the WHOQOL-Bref and PSS-14 scores (r=-0.620, p<0.05). Conclusion: The results show that most of the medical students have the idea of brain drain. Special attention should be given to the problems of physicians and medical students in the issue of physician brain drain, which causes the loss of qualified workforce in our country and has been increasing in recent years, and solution-oriented interventions should be implemented rapidly.

Keywords

• brain drain
• medical student
• quality of life
• perceived stress
• abroad

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