The emigration of Romanian specialists abroad is one of the major not only social but also economic problems facing our country. Every year dozens of Romanians decide to leave permanently, more than half of them are aged 20-40. Today is about the final departure of the doctors.

According to a recently published study, financial constraints on technological resources and investments in high-performance equipment stimulated the final migration of Romanians with medium and high qualifications from the medical field to countries that provided working conditions and the best equipment.

For each emigrant university graduate, Romania loses approximately $50,000

In addition, higher salaries and the opportunity to advance and develop your career are other reasons why people go to seek their well-being elsewhere.

Financially, according to a World Bank report, for every migrant who graduates from university, Romania loses approximately $50,000 per person. This sum represents the cost of 16-20 years of education, money that cannot be reimbursed by Romanian society. Paradoxically, at the government level, this topic is not given any importance, it is usually discussed as part of the labor shortage problem, the cited document also states.

Multiply that by the number of doctors who left, that’s $2.5 billion, just at the doctor level. If we add engineers or experts from other fields, we lose huge amounts.

With a health system that is constantly being reformed, but in a pattern that does not correspond to the factors mentioned above, Romania has been facing a shortage of jobs in the health sector for more than 3 decades.

External estimates speak of about 50,000 doctors who left for countries with high healthcare costs and a high standard of living (especially Great Britain, Germany, France). In terms of age, most of the doctors who want to migrate from Romania are represented by young people, they adapt much more easily to the new society.

Differences between “strawberry” and skilled migration

In addition to the migration of unskilled workers, Romania has faced a “brain drain” of college graduates and highly trained workers. The latter emigrated in search of wages that match their skills and a system that knows how to value them.

While those going to pick strawberries abroad are trying to raise enough money to build a house or put it in the bank, educated emigrants go for longer periods and consider settling in the destination country. Both types of emigration affect the national economy, but in different ways. The majority of Romanian specialists who decided to leave are part of the medical system, the cited study shows. The value of the Romanian medical school is appreciated abroad, and the job offers from other countries are generous, with salaries even 5 times higher than in Romania.

The brain drain in medicine is more dramatic than in other sectors; the consequences are both economic and social

The brain drain in the healthcare sector is more dramatic than in other sectors because the consequences are both economic and social. The health of society affects the degree of social unity.

Migration has led to a decrease in the workforce in the medical field and an increase in the average age of doctors. The reduction in the labor force can be solved by migration or training of new professional doctors in the country.

Factors for retaining or attracting medical personnel are: salary, cost of living and quality of institutions and public services in the country of origin. The main reasons for the migration of doctors: a better structure of medical education, higher income and better prospects for the family. From this point of view, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe are characterized by serious shortcomings.

Even if at the time of migration some doctors consider temporary migration, the longer the stay in the destination country, the better the doctor adapts to the society and culture of which he has chosen to be a part, and the more likely he is to return home. .

Where do they go and from which medical specialties are we losing the most doctors

Depending on the country of destination, most doctors emigrated to France, Germany and Great Britain. These countries have high per capita incomes, and the migration of doctors is influenced by income. Another explanation for choosing these countries for migration is the fact that Romanian graduates are familiar with English, French and German and can easily adapt.

Most of the doctors who wanted to leave Romania were from Bucharest, Iași, Cluj and Timisoara. This is because the 4 districts are important university centers with prestigious medical faculties.

The majority are under 40 years old, 44.94% are between 31 and 40 years old and 24.16% are under 30 years old. These data indicate the aging of the remaining doctors in the country.

By specialization, the majority of doctors who wanted to move specialize in general medicine, followed by general surgery and obstetrics and gynecology (5.33%).

The term “brain drain” was first mentioned by the British Royal Society to refer to the emigration of scientists and technologists from the United Kingdom to the United States and Canada. Now this phrase is used to refer to the emigration of highly qualified people – engineers, doctors, scientists and other highly qualified specialists.

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