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Distinguished Professor of Health Economics and Public Policy from University of California, Berkeley hosted by ODID as Astor Visiting Lecturer

The Oxford Department of International Development is this week hosting Professor Richard Scheffler, who will give a series of public lectures on health economics and public policy.

On Tuesday 7 June Prof Scheffler was the keynote speaker at a one-day workshop on the International migration of medical doctors: Trends drivers and policies, the concluding event of a IMI project led by Mathias Czaika and Yasser Moullan which aims to further knowledge of the impact of immigration policies on the international migration of medical doctors.

In his keynote speech, Prof Scheffler presented a soon-to-be published new methodology for measuring global healthcare worker supply and demand in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Attendees at the workshop addressed complex questions of understanding global medical 'brain drain', including whether, given the complexities of the movement of human capital from where it is produced (the country of training of a medical professional) to where it is utilised (their country of practice), this concept is helpful or even accurate.

Through presentations given by economists and healthcare policy specialists, the group also explored the notion of equitable mobility in the context of global - and increasingly integrated - human capital markets. Discussions returned repeatedly to what really constitutes equitable mobility of health professionals, and developments in establishing common training frameworks across national borders.

As part of his Astor Visiting Lectureship, Professor Scheffler will give a public lecture in the Oxford Department of International Development on 8 June on the relationship between social capital and health.

Read more about the International migration of medical doctors: Trends, drivers and policies project