Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Accept all cookies Reject all non-essential cookies Find out more

International migration of medical doctors: Trends, drivers and policies

Funded by the John Fell Fund

Furthering our knowledge of the impact of immigration policies on the international migration of medical doctors.

© © US Army Africa / Flickr

This project aims to further our knowledge of the impact of immigration policies on the international migration of medical doctors. Facing the need and demand to fill local shortages in health professionals, many states have adopted specific immigration policies to attract medical doctors while simultaneously trying to abide by the Code of Good Practise and a moral obligation not to deplete developing countries of their medical workforce.

Understanding how various, and sometimes conflicting, immigration policies influence the migration process of medical doctors is essential for policy-making. However, reliable empirical evidence is largely lacking as there are very few databases available on this subject. This project will compile such a database in order to investigate the role and relative importance of immigration policies targeting this particular occupation in the context of broader structural drivers of the international migration of medical doctors.

Make an enquiry about the International migration of medical doctors: Trends, drivers and policies project

Research team

Related research themes

The effectiveness of migration policies is highly contested. We examine the changing role of origin and destination states in migration processes by analysing their explicit attempts to intervene through migration policies and the impact of other policy areas, such as trade and taxation. Our research helps to understand why policies often fail to meet their stated objectives.
Policy and states
Development processes shape human mobility in fundamental and often counter-intuitive ways. We examine how internal and international migration is driven by wider social, economic, technological and political transformations. Our research challenges assumptions that development will reduce migration and the sedentary foundations of much research and policy.
Drivers and dynamics