What causes doctor shortages?
If you did this lesson in class, you would have discussed the BIG QUESTION for doctor shortages.
This topic’s BIG QUESTION is:
Leave a comment below to let us know what you think and why.
It would also be great to hear about any interesting points that you heard in your classroom discussions.
As always, don't forget to read what other people think. There are students on the Hub from all over the world -- and with such different perspectives, you might have very different opinions.
Comments (176)
I believe that the global shortage of doctors is due to exhaustion, fatigue, and dissatisfaction with their job status and wages, in addition to their lack of appreciation from governments, and the reluctance of many to join the field of medicine due to its difficulty and cruelty. Governments must put in place attractive factors for doctors to attract the largest number of them, and not to fall into health crises And a catastrophic medical threat
Hi Best_Groundhog - it's a good point to raise that doctors can be overworked. You talk about putting in place measures to make the profession more attractive. What would you suggest?
Many attractions, such as increasing wages, giving doctors fairness financially and morally, providing rewards for their medical achievements, improving the work environment in hospitals and health centers, opening new medical colleges, enhancing their successes, in addition to providing legal protection can stop their immigration and return immigrants from them.
Great point!
Do you think doctors should strike?
In general, the doctors' strike will constitute a major crisis, but the steps to obtain their rights can be to submit their demands to the responsible government agencies or the legislative authority that considers the decisions, and they can establish electronic pages that represent them and call for their demands. If this does not cause any response, they can go to the demonstrations as a demand for their rights, such as demanding equality They demand their right to promotions and wages and to fulfill their demands. I think it is the strongest way to subjugate the government to their demands. Doctors are able to achieve their goals.
Very interesting point, which made me think even more, and I would say that being a doctor should be related to the salary, I think there is no adequate salary for someone that save lives. I think the salary should be a good one, taken in consideration all the economic factor, where a person lives, etc, etc, but moreover I would introduce a more regulated way of working. I wouldn't push new doctors to cover 12 hours shift, or sleep at the hospital. I think that they should be given on average, more holiday that other people, and give them the time to enjoy life. What's your thoughts?
There are many doctors in all countries and all countries, but doctors are lacking for several reasons Some of them are afraid of losing the patient And there are those who fear that they will not be able to treat this patient, and there are also people who are unable to treat the patient properly And some times a person is afraid of something or is afraid that he will make a mistake in medical treatment, and this often happens There are many other reasons, and there are also those who are threatened in the field of medicine And there are those of us who can do nothing
The solution, in my opinion, is as follows:
When you want or decide to enter the field of medicine, you must make sure that there are patients waiting for you to treat them and make them forget the pain of the body or the soul You have to prepare for everything that will happen and study with a pure intention and everything that passes you have to study so that you can succeed in your career and the lives of others. When you decide to become a doctor, make sure that you will be the reason for giving life again to patients
I agree with you but one major solution is that doctors should not be allowed to treat their family members because when they do it they do it with too much emotions. Doing it with too much emotions means that they will be too careful and they will be very slow which can lead to the death of the patient
I'm sure you're right that doctors should go to places where there are patients waiting for them. But in many countries, there are large numbers of people who have to wait a long time for treatment because there are not enough doctors in their area. Why do you think that is? What other factors might make a doctor decide where to work?
I think that the root causes of the global shortage in the number of doctors is their travel to complete their education abroad, because the period of studying medicine is long, as dentistry and surgery consume 8 years of study at the university, and the average doctor studies for 4 years, so this is a long period, and since medicine Very expensive, we all want to learn medicine, however, in economic conditions that do not allow learning medicine, students are forced to enter another specialty
Could this be a sufficient reason for brain drain and doctors! Where do we look for national belonging among medical students?? Is it possible that the emigration of doctors is a warning to governments to improve their conditions in their home countries for fear of their emigration??
I loved your questions
1 I think this is reason enough to immigrate, because I asked myself why do doctors travel and I think the answer would be to study abroad because they think that studying abroad is better in addition to earning money.
2 I think this may be a warning to the government because a large number of people are studying medicine and their aim is to study abroad. This reduces the population. This makes the government concerned about the small population and prefers to improve their conditions, work and study in their country.
You raise an interesting point with respect to the time it takes to become a doctor. Here in the United Kingdom, doctors train for around 7 years and then keep on training if they want to specialise in a certain field.
That is a huge commitment to undertake!
Do you think that perhaps governments could incentivise students to study medicine by reducing university fees perhaps? Or is there something else that could be done?
At the beginning of my educational career, I dreamed of studying medicine and enrolling in international universities, and here I am now asking about the reasons for refusing to learn medicine in the world, especially for girls. Psychiatry among doctors makes them more introverted and lonely, and in some countries the high cost of studying medicine is a major obstacle for them. Also, the medical profession is very dangerous and patients’ lives must be taken care of and their diseases treated. At the end of my conclusion, I respect and appreciate all doctors and I wish the Ministry of Health to pay more attention to doctors And raise their salaries, and get appreciation from the people, and my advice to you is to take care of your health because it is the most precious thing we have.
emotional_moon some interesting reflections! Would you still consider studying medicine? If so, what would make it worth it for you?
"Psychiatry among doctors makes them more introverted and lonely"
This is a wonderful mentality, it made me think about it again and seriously, and I actually noticed it, but the question here is why?? In your opinion, should we really ask the doctors that??
I completely agree with you with everything you wrote and talked about, but the phrase “psychiatry among doctors makes them more introverted” I disagree with you with this sentence because psychiatrists have a wise mindset and they are the most careful people to save their time from being wasted in useless things, as they are always preoccupied
Their patients are not introverted, but rather their hard work is what requires them to sit in a room alone in order to preserve the patient’s privacy and also to make their focus on the situation not on other things. Introversion is completely different from what I said. If they were introverts, they would not sit with the patients’ families and talk to them.
What are the root causes of global doctor shortages? What should be done about this?
..~
Developing countries often suffer from a shortage of doctors due to the limited number and capacity of medical schools and international migration: doctors can always earn more money and enjoy better working conditions when working in other countries. Developed countries also suffer from a shortage of doctors, especially in rural areas and other underserved areas.
I agree because...the world suffers from global doctor shortage for various reasons like emigration and change in population demography mainly. This is facts especially for rural areas and countries that are developing where the population tends to be high,and there’s already shortage of health care services that need to be professionalized. This can be solved by encouraging the international medical graduates in order for them to be recruited in the health care system.
Another reason why the world faces global doctor shortage is because in some cases,doctors are not satisfied with their salary which makes them not want to work because they’re not being paid enough. Doctors save peoples lives when they’re in need so they shouldn’t face this problem in the work place. Ministry of Health should find a way to do a way with this problem because if they do not,it will cause them (the doctors) to resign.
You mention rural areas having bigger problems with doctor shortages- why might this be?
This is because most doctors would want to work in high class hospitals which are found in the city/urban areas. Because of this problem, the hospitals in rural areas are left with unprofessional doctors because all of the graduates will want to work in the urban areas and not the rural areas. Another reason is because the doctors might feel like there might not be good job opportunities in the rural areas like the way the job opportunities in urban areas are high and available. The salary that they pay doctors in rural areas might be less than salary that they pay in urban areas
Does this mean there is not a global shortage of doctors successful_horse but instead an uneven distribution of doctors across the globe? What do you think could be done to encourage Doctors to work in developing countries?
I agree because from my view doctors vacate from my country to go to other countries in order to get better payment, good living and very high level of education.
But the number of graduates of the Faculty of Medicine is many, and most of them sit at home. If the Ministry of Health took advantage of employing some of them, or helping them build private clinics for them, in order to have a balance in health care for us..
In my point of view, Doctors are candles which burning to illuminate and give life to some patients , because of the difficulties which doctors face in the life there's a shortage in doctors, for example,the long continuous period of time they work in the day so they feel that they can't spend a lot of time with their families, I think they work under high pressure on their health because of accuracy in their work so they must have the highest salary in the country to encourage the youth to specialize in the medicine inspite of it's difficulty.
In other wise some people avoid this field for fear of getting of mental problems so medicine needs a very strong character.
I hope to decrease the number of work hours for the doctor and give them
great perks because they really deserve.
Doctors have an important role our live . There are many reasons for lack of doctors, including
1- Large numbers of doctors working in the Ministry of Health leaked .
2- The numbre of doctors immigration directly abroad especially to Britain and Europe has increased .
3- Poor income of juniors doctors poor distribution of doctors at the state level, poor work environment in government hospitals and willingness to hold doctors accountable, all of which are factors that expel doctors.
4- Work pressure for low salaries.
As for solutions, the state must close the door through which doctors leave by opening new medical colleges, improving the work environment for doctors, increasing wages for doctors, and providing material support such as rewards and morals such as writing reports of thanks and appreciation for doctors.
Doctors suffer a lot because of the spread of diseases such as Corona, and they play to find treatment, and it also accumulates and we push patients to them
Which occupies their time and they can only rest a little, and this applies to most of my family
And the doctor’s profession began to diminish due to lack of salaries or backlogs. I suggest that we relieve them and not tire them out by taking care of our health by eating fruits and vegetables and staying away from harmful foods and frying pans and by following safety instructions and not polluting the environment so as not to accumulate respiratory diseasesAll appreciated
I totally agree with you, people should learn to rely on themselves for their health instead of doctors and medicines, if we just spend some of our time exercising and doing yoga in a day, we can get away from many diseases. Every organization should promote yoga and exercising to their employees or students by making them do exercises and yoga everyday.
But if everyone listens to your suggestion, the doctor's profession will begin to shrink, and thus he will blow you away and his dreams will begin to come to an end despite studying for many years and paying large sums of money to obtain the certificate.
With this proposal, the doctor’s profession will be abolished, and the profession will be for specialized doctors only, and this will reduce the number of doctors and their wages.
I agree with you spirited_snow because doctors actually face a lot like frustration, stress and insufficient pay. We can help in solving doctor shortage by taking good precautions like washing our hands before we eat because if we do not we would risk taking in germs into our bodies without knowing. We should also try to maintain a proper diet by abstaining from excess fatty food or harmful food, keeping our environment clean because a dirty environment causes us to fall ill. Doctor shortage is a problem that can be solved when we work together by doing the right thing and decide that we can put an end to the problem.
I think that there may be doctor shortages because they were told they would be given a pay rise, but they were not all given the money. (My mother is a doctor) So, they may resign and go somewhere else because of this. Also, because of the cost of living crisis, the government may not be able to pay the doctors, or pay for their equipment. In the doctor shortages, it may cause doctors to work longer hours because there are not enough other docotrs to do the shift. This is energy sapping and tiring, making the docor more likely to make mistakes.
Even if the government did make the taxes go up, it would not generally help. If would be unfair to say to everyone else that the doctors were exempt to this. On the whole, the government should really think how they spend their money so that when they say they will give a pay rise, they will do it.
Hi quickwitted_tamarind these are some interesting points. I note you mention that doctors were promised a pay rise. In your opinion, is a good salary a key part of being a doctor?
I think partly, it depends. If the doctors are paid good money, than more people will actually want to be a doctor, meaning less shortages. Still, that could potentially mean shortages in another job. Because doctors may want more pay, they may move to other countries, like America or Canada, where health is not free, ut the doctors get lots of money.
I just wanted to add another reason for doctor shortages: It takes a long time to train a docor. IF people want to make a change, than they have to plan ahead. Also, more doctors are leaving the job, than the amount of docotrs being trained. People cannot have a job and suddenly want to be a doctor, because of the amount of training and skill it takes to be in healthcare.
That's another good point. Do you think it would be a good idea if doctors' training didn't take so long? What would be the advantages or disadvantages of that, do you think?
Good question.
I think that it could be helpful if the doctors training took a shorter time. However most things are crucial to know, so by shortening the training time, a doctors knowledge is limited. Maybe, once technology is even more advanced than how it is now, it could take a shorter time. But as I said in my previous comment, changes take time, you have to be futuristic when you plan to do things.
To stop the bleeding of doctors from my point of view: It is possible to work on increasing doctors’ wages to match the requirements of a decent life, adopting a single training program for all doctors that is supervised by an independent body, and for each graduate to have a place for general and specialized training according to international rules, in addition to improving the work environment by protecting doctors with a fair law to practice the profession, and providing medicines and supplies And devices that guarantee the provision of reasonable medical service, and this will not be achieved without increasing the budget of the Ministry of Health and Population. Also, it is possible to work on merging university hospitals and Ministry of Health hospitals into one financial and administrative entity, and allowing university faculty members to work in Ministry of Health hospitals and train doctors for a rewarding fee, and finally establish Private (non-profit) medical colleges affiliated with public universities or private universities With quality rules not less than the international level.
The root causes of global doctor shortages are that some doctors leave for better conditions in other countries, others quit during training, and others because of to much work for their payment.
Also, the big work volume doctors have to face is also because some people go too often to the doctor. A solution could be bringing doctors from abroad and spending more money for building hospitals.
Hi illuminated_chameleon these are interesting points. I note you have said that some people go too often to the doctor - what do you mean by that? If someone is sick, should they not go to see their doctor?
"People Go Too Often To The Doctor"
I think illuminated_chameleon is trying to say that doctors get too exhausted handling the many patients that tho to the day in day out 24/7. Sometimes this too much exhaustion makes doctors to develop some kind of stress and they sometimes get tired if working so they begin ghost working but this is also caused by other pressure factors like low pay,lack of resting and family time and even some times disappointments like failing to save someone's life of making a mistaking costing a patient's life may cause doctors to get tired of their jobs hence doctors shortages. Otherwise, doctors also need time off their jobs because even in class we say "Work without play makes Jack a dull boy." So too much work without rest leads to doctor shortages and it comes back to us to take responsibility of our bodies and engaging in health practices like regular jogging and eating vegetables so as to reduce the doctors work because even in class we say "An 🍎apple a day, keeps the doctor away."
Thank you for your comment. You raise some good points. Do you think that there is a danger that doctors leave to go to richer countries where they can earn more money?
"danger that doctors leave to go to richer countries"
Well,first if all in different light these doctors do it do to low pay whereby they cannot sustain their livelihoods with the money they get and so they opt for other countries that are able to pay them enough.Others doctors for example in my country choose to uprise and demonstrate plus refusing to go to work and they do all this trying to pass on their grievance of low pay and demanding pay raise e.g in "Kampala 6/Nov/2017 doctors went on strike to protest low salaries and shortages of essential supplies" So at some point I would blame a doctor who has a family to take care of in terms of needs like food,shelter and health for going to other countries where he can earn more to take care of his family.
On the other hand,there is actually a big danger in the occurrence of the doctors going to other countries for example the countries loses skilled personnel that help in handling situations of pandemics like Covid-19 and Ebola whereby in such situations,the countries needs such people to help with the infected people and one of the causes of many deaths in pandemic situations are doctor shortages for example few skilled doctors at health centers causing the ones available to get over worked and as result,many die cause those few can't concentrate well on each patient.In another occurrence,the government loses a lot of money since most doctors for example in my country Uganda are sponsored during their studies but then they end up leaving before even serving so here the government's investments go to waste.In other cases,these doctors that go to other countries may even fail to invest home so the government won't benefit in terms of revenue. It also leads to shortage of manpower when you look at regional hospitals you may the that in a region there are over 15 hospitals but with few experts like one surgeon working at more than five hospitals and sometimes delay in handling patients in situations where the only doctor that can help is late or is coming from far.In other unfortunate cases these doctors for example black doctors may die due to the harsh treatment associated with racism and other things so when they die,their native relatives may lose the people that have been supporting them financially and so they are left hopeless with no one to fend for them in regards to finance so they begin begging for government hand and in worse cases some may turn into street beggars and street children something that affects the country negatively for instance there could be increased crime rate.
In conclusion, doctors going to other rich countries causes negative impacts but at the same time you may not blame them.They are also trying to earn a living
Well, there are many causes, but a very important cause is being paid less than a doctor deserves. We can not just underpay the doctors, and then have so big expectations of them. All the doctors do so much work. They don't get to spend enough time with their family, and sometimes don't even sleep long enough, because they have to go to work at night. Also, medical school is so expensive and hard, that most of the people trying to become a doctor give up. Doctors save peoples lives all the time, they realy deserve more. What we can do is start speaking out for doctors. We all start protesting when it comes to some unfair things in our personal life, but just closing our eyes when it happens to others. Let's start being united and give the doctors what they deserve, before most of them just give up, and find some other well paid jobs. We can not actually live without doctors.
I agree with you. Along with that, the occupation of doctors is considered one of the most stressful jobs in the world, and they spend most of their young lives studying hard hoping that after they receive a good degree their lives would be extraordinary. But little do they know that it takes another 5 stressful years to establish yourself in the medical sector, and even after that many doctors are not able to earn enough. With so many drawbacks of being a doctor, these days the youth doesn't want to become a doctor.
I agree because...I love my country but it saddens me that most of the doctors do not get paid according to there work. Must schools do not even have medicine, and even if you have the resources to go to school at the end of the day there are chances that you may not get a job. You can go to the streets and you will find most graduates doctors and have nothing to do, infect another problem is were will they work. We have few hospitals. Some go abroad and school, but when they get back home the hospital they work in do not have the technology they worked with in school, so life becomes more difficult and some get discourage.
I believe that doctor shortages start from the fact that doctors leave their country for better salaries In other countries that pay them more, leaving poorer countries with no good doctors. It also takes longer to learn how to be a doctor than other jobs. Some doctors also quit their jobs because they don't get paid enough. Also, some people go to the hospital without actually needing to go, occupying doctors and not letting them help people actually in need. In some countries, doctors are underpaid, which makes less people want to be doctors because of the hard work and small salary. Doctors should be paid better and other countries shouldn't accept foreign doctors, because there will be more doctors in poorer countries that need more doctors. Also, doctors should be well-paid for the amazing things they do.
In Romania, doctors and teachers are underpaid, making less poeple want these professions. Here, we could fix doctor shortages by paying doctors well, just like they deserve.
What would you do to fix doctor shortages?
Around the world, we don’t have enough doctors because they think there is too much pressure and they are underpaid for the work they do. In my country, Romania, the healthcare system is decent, but as in other countries like Spain they are underpaid for the work they do. Also, the junior doctors quit the profession during the training because they think it is too dificult or because they dont have enough support so that is another problem . This was especially a problem during covid. I think that we should respect the doctors because they work all day and save peoples’ lives.
Thank you for sharing this insight, really good point. As you mentioned the healthcare system in Romania is decent, but in some other countries that might not be the case, what do you think is the good practice that other regions can try?
I agree with the opinion, as psychological support is one of the most important reasons that make a person succeed or fail in what he wants, and also that I want to tell you that all doctors may indeed be afraid at first, but the real doctor is the one who has the intention to help people and that Someone's dream is fulfilled, and not just to make money In my country during Covid 19, many doctors have shone and showed their courage and some of them hid in their homes for fear of being injured. In these situations, the honest and heroic doctors appear, and I thank them very much.
Now we are normal people and we know what is right and what is wrong, and we know that doctors' salaries should be increased, but I wonder that the government understands and knows more than us that doctors' salaries should be increased, but why don't 't they do that? not in one country, but in most countries
A doctor works very hard to become a good doctor. In the US there are the best doctors, because the country offers more money and more advantages. Other countries do not have so much money to spend on doctors and they do not have such good doctors.
Some countries end up having people leave them, also because of money. A very good doctor who likes what he does and would help everyone regardless of money.
Some doctors let people die in the hospital instead of helping them.
That's interesting, tranquil_orangutan. Do you believe that the doctors who earn the most are necessarily the best at their job? What about doctors in poorer countries? What makes someone a good doctor in your opinion?
The cause of doctor shortage in our country is that the doctors aren't paid correctly. That's why so many doctors go to other countries to get paid more.But think about the reasons those people become doctors.They become doctors not because they want to become rich, but because they want people to live, they want to help them. Most of them are passionate of what they do. I don't say that doctors shouldn't be paid at the level of work they do. I think the government should give them bigger salary. The government should pay for life.
There are so many people willing to be doctors but when they actually need to study and perform under pressure most just leave. For example in Japan one of the reasons they have doctor shortages is because patients have frequent appointments. This can also be said for my country as we are a nation of hypochondriacs. One other problem are the underpaid nurses, doctors, obstetrician, surgeons and the other heroes that save our life daily. Let's take Romania for example: Romania's healthcare is ranked last in Europe. Also this country has a big shortage of doctors. After it entered the E.U more than 15.000 doctors ended up going to higher paying countries to persuade their job. Before saying that being a doctor is easy just think the people that go to university. Most of them spend 3 years, but doctors spend double that time. And if a doctor makes a mistake you will get mad and probably just sue them even if they are human beings. As a doctor you are literally playing with a humans life. Do you think a doctors mistake is bigger than a lawyers?
Hi Bright_Wallaby - you raise the interesting question of migration reducing the number of doctors in Romania. Is it possible to solve this problem? Do you have any suggestions?
Doctor shortage is a problem in India because people want to be doctors and then they go in other countries to work.
What can we do?
We can convince them to stay at work in India because people need their help and they don't have any motive to go in other country but when coronavirus came the doctors were exhausted and they foughted to keep patients alive.
Because the problem that you raised is not only suffered by your country, but many countries suffer from it. We must not convince them to stay here only to help the patients. The government must provide them with the salary that will help them stay here and appreciate their hardship. The patients must respect and appreciate them, not work Problems with them, and their imprisonment, that doctors are human beings and they have the right to live their lives as they want, but despite that they use it to serve patients and treat them
The root causes of doctor shortages around the world is due to very long period of time to pursue medicine and unsatisfactory results after the getting a job. After studying for years, people become doctors but then also they have to find jobs in a good hospital which can pay them good salaries but then also they have to practice their skills for years to get to a higher position in the hospital. Today, most of the people don't have that level of patience to struggle for years and still not getting satisfactory results. Indeed, being a doctor is a noble profession but it kind of not satisfy them to live happily if they don't get constant motivation. It's very hard to for a doctor to see people suffering in front of their eyes and doctors toil hard to save their patients, if there is an emergency at 2:00 AM in the night, they will leave their sleep, family, everything just to save the person. It needs a lot of dedication to become a doctor, they should be respected by all of us.
I think your comment is fantastic and you have picked up on most of the reasons why there is a shortage of doctors.
The tricky thing is figuring out a way to fix the situation! What you suggest as a way to make medicine a more attractive career for young people to enter?
The problem of lack of doctors is due to many problems, including the long period of study, the high cost, and the psychological pressure that afflicts the learner, instead of the fact that some countries do not have universities to teach the profession, and it is necessary to travel abroad, instead of the practitioner receiving many problems such as low wages, high pressure, and others at the expense of the person So he takes refugeStudents to practice another profession or enter the medical field, but within a simple work such as a pharmacIn my opinion, 1. Universities should be provided to teach this profession. The medical profession is not like building houses and other things, but rather to build hope for life.
2 Provide university scholarships for students.
3. Increasing doctors' wages, as humanity's lives are in their hands
4. Finding places for employment for doctors, which reduces immigration and keeps the poor in the country
5.It is true that doctors are tasked with taking care of us, but this does not mean that we should not take care of ourselves and those around us
In addition to all this, with the spread of cholera and corona patients, we must wash vegetables, take care of our cleanliness, and help nature
In my opinion we have a doctor shortage because people don't want to go to school for the long time that being a doctor requires. Iam sure many people would have to be doctors but motivation isn't there for them, they'd rather take the easy way out and become a nurse or physicians assistant. Also another reason might be because college is becoming more and more un affordable. If students don't have a local college that they can can go to the price is out standing and many students don't want to go into that much debt for all degree, they will be paying student loans off for awhile and that is something most people don't want to do. It is hard enough trying to support yourself but imagine having $100,000 indept you have to pay off. I don't necessarily think we have a general doctor shortage but I do think we have a specialist shortage for the a mount of people who need to see them in America. When you go to a specialist you wait forever because they have overloaded schedules with too many patients that the realistically can't see in one day because they are the only specialist in the area.
involved_mood do you think becoming a nurse or assistant would be an easier life than becoming a doctor?
I think that the root cause is the high average required to enter the Faculty of Medicine, as well as the high costs of studying it, and the length of the study period, as it takes more than 5 years,And let's think about it, why would I spend my life and reach the age of thirty for a job when I am able to get another job with a close salary after studying 4 years at the university only!
What must be done is to grant poor students with high averages in high school free scholarships to study medicine and try to develop academic methods in teaching medicine so that the student does not feel burdened,Also educating students in the primary, middle and secondary stages of the importance of our human feeling about this profession and also stimulating their passion for it! If society deals with us entering the Faculty of Medicine only because we have obtained a high rate, this will reduce the interest of young people in it, and they will be frustrated by entering it.
You are not wrong but in my opinion I would say if you have passion for something the years of study would really not be a problem to you . In my country sometimes it takes more than 5 years to study medicine in some schools, due to strike and so many more but I have seen people who are determined and they make it.
Thank you for the reply, but in my country the majority do not have the passion, but they are forced to study medicine to improve their economic conditions, but many face psychological problems during their studies and are isolated from people and affect them negatively, Especially since medicine is a very rich curriculum, and I do not think that there are various methods in teaching it,I think if the professors developed their teaching method, using modern techniques, and combined self-development and meditation with what happens with human diseases, I think that this will develop the medical student psychologically and scientifically.
I believe every one was born for a purpose ,but if they are forced there is now way the will do good. Have you ever seen an unhappy successful person. I wish parents would just allow their children to follow there passion and I think countries all over the world should come together and decide that traveling for medical treatments should be made easy because that could be another reason for making children in a country study medicine .
The number of doctors decreases from time to time due to their dissatisfaction with what is happening in terms of: the many pressures, the lack of salaries, the lack of any rest for them, and the absence of any rewards or incentives for them.
Consequently, the number of students who learn medicine and so on over the number of years is few, and there is little opportunity to get a job after graduation.
And because the medical profession needs patience, courage, and strengthening the heart because of the injuries and diseases that it sees. The patient’s life is a trust in the hands of the doctor, and any slight error leads to the incapacitation or death of the patient.
I honestly feel that we have shortage when it comes to doctors because;
1. Doctors have to deal with patients with various diseases and if not detected on time it would be air-borne and the doctors would be infected which could course the dead on such individual(s).
2. People also think or believe that becoming a doctor is difficult which honestly it is ,so the run from it .
3. when a patient dies under the watch of medical personals must times such personals are blamed for the death which course a lot of trauma to some and some could give up on the career.
What should be done;
1. People should be encouraged to follow there passion no matter how it may seem hard.
2. People should learn that yes some doctors do make mistakes but we should not always give them a hard time about it
3. Even if you are insulted, disrespected or even embarrassed do not give up someone someday will think you for doing good
I think one of the causes of doctor shortages is an increase in population of a country. Most countries with high population tend to suffer from doctor shortages because the higher the population the higher the demand for services. So in order to solve this problem family planning devices can be distributed in such countries and the citizens should be motivated towards it. It would really help control birth rate leading to better efficiency in the medicine sector.
Well in my opinion, the excess demand for them causes the shortage of them, yes, what do I, mean well I believe that because of the way most youths want to become doctors, people believe that at a point the supply of doctors and the jobs available would be at an uneven ratio. The idea that doctors would one day be too much in the world is exactly what would cause their shortage. I hear statements like THE WAY EVERYONE WANTS TO BE DOCTORS ONE DAY THERE WOULD BE TOO MANY DOCTORS. To be honest i kind of agreed with that ideology up until I realized that it was wrong, we have increasing rate of hospitals around the globe. So, if we really think about it everything sums up.
The reasons for the shortage of doctors in the Arab countries: because doctors suffer from pressure in the hospital, exhaustion and fatigue, and it may also be because of the financial cost because it requires a very large amount, and it may be because of the difficulty of learning. That it is due to the lack of giving enough money to meet their needs, and the solutions are to give the doctors a leave for a measure of rest, to return to activity and vitality, and to give enough money to meet the needs
From my point of view,the medical profession has features that push and encourage me as a young woman to strive to join the elite of doctors. On a personal level: The medical profession has a great impact on the lives of doctors, as it contributes to the expansion of thier awareness and recognition of God's creativity in ceation.Researches,reference, and books about the accuracy of its knowledge,and how this body can be a single, interconnected entity,as one piece, Which will suffer if any one of its injured, and it will remain healthy with the safety of the rest of the parties medicine affect the lives of doctors and opens adoor for them to interact with the most talented minds of their colleagues and teachers, and to the outside world as well, where the doors of grants and missions are opened for them to travel to complete their specialization in all countries that are concerned with developing medicine and creating new methods ofe treatment. On the social level, the doctors life is very special, as the doctors finds himself at the top of the social pyramid,where people meet him with love and respect. The economic receives a high salary that qualifies him to lead a decent and comfortable life in which he achieves what he aspired to, as a reward for his diligence over many years in acquiring science and scientific and theoretical knowledge.
What are the root causes of global doctor shortages?
the way most doctors are paid matters. According to research, plastic surgery, neurosurgery, or orthopedic surgery and report earning over half a million ($500,000) per year on average. making these doctors the most paid doctors worid wide and these doctors are known to be so scarce. Now for the lowest paid doctors are the Pediatrics. these pediatrics have the most basic jobs which are to provide preventive care and also diagnose and treat infections, injuries and diseases.
Many doctors give up even before making it up to 10-14 years
What should be done about this?
Increase Interest in the Field, Establish Centers of Excellence, Integrate Environmental Medicine with Occupational Medicine Training and Research Programs. Increase Funding for Faculty Development. Support Residency and Fellowship Training.
Don't forget to share where your research comes from! Why do you think some areas of medicine are better paid than others?
You are right that doctors in certain fields make a lot of money. Rich people are willing to pay a lot for elective surgery whereas more critical care like pediatrics, heart and cancer care tend to be done by state hospital systems and they may not pay as well.
I like your ideas to help ease the shortage of doctors. I wonder if there is space to move some training out of the classroom and into the real world like with apprenticeships in other professions?
Reducing the amount of health care provided to patients that hinders the ability of health systems to achieve primary health care goals, such as the Millennium Development Goals.
Low quality of health care provided to patients as a result of the short duration of doctor visits.
Increasing workloads and the large number of patients assigned to each doctor lead to increased workloads on doctors and sleep deprivation, which threatens patient safety.
Unnecessary deaths of patients while waiting for health care.
High prices for practicing medicine as a result of a lack of competition, according to the rules of supply and demand in health care economies governed by the market.
Lower medical costs for clients.
Unlike other industries, when market share is high and competition is low, physicians are less inclined to increase the frequency or intensity of medical services in order to maximize allowances through limited patient visits.
Since I was a child, I dreamed that I would become the greatest doctor in my country. I started my career when I was 13 years old. I planned and dreamed of that, but I knew that there was a great shortage in the number of patients in my country.
Why?
Well, I will tell you that the Ministry of Health does not know how valuable a doctor is in life. If they knew what his value is, they would give him half of the bank.
And the lack of doctors’ salaries and not giving them a chance to rest or plan something, as there are those who have a home, a woman, children and a family to meet with.
#I hope the Ministry of Health will address these problems so that doctors will be enthusiastic about doing their work. Thank you...👩🔬👩🔬👩⚕️
The major causes of doctor shortages are; low pay, harsh working environment, lack of recognition and being overworked. There are also immigration issues for some doctors so it makes it hard for them to work.
Solutions to the issues above would be paying doctors equivalent money to their work, giving doctors some credit for their work, giving doctors enough vacation time to rest up and come back performing better than ever and making immigration for jobs that require medicine easier to come into the country.
I feel that if all the above conditions are met the shall no longer be a shortage of doctors.
Hi Joyous_Guitar - one of the factors that you raise is immigration issues for some doctors so that it makes it hard to find work. Could you elaborate on that? Should a doctor who is qualified in any country be allowed to work in any other country?
For example some doctors wouldn't want to work in their country due to poor payment issues so they look for ways of going to work in other countries and immigration is one of the issues they face when they are looking for jobs in other countries .
If the conditions for the doctor to work in that country are poor or are not up to standard then yes, it should be allowed for doctors to go outside their country to look for jobs.
Since childhood, I find myself an independent doctor, according to what my parents say, that he achieves valuable material profits, but when I grew up, I did not find myself there, so I decided to pursue my dream, and there are many reasons that did not make me study medicine:
There are no good universities in my country, so most of those who studied medicine went abroad
High costs, you find smart people but they do not have the price of universities, so I think that opportunities should be provided to smart people for free
Sometimes in my country they don't give a good amount of money to the staff, because this causes the tuition fee percentage to be low
I also see that children of these years see themselves in the world of fame and social media, and this is what makes them forget to study and reduce their intelligence.
In my opinion, the reason for the shortage of doctors is because of the high university fees in the medical specialty and the low standard of living for families, which led students to go to specializations whose fees are lower and because of the high price of medical tools and because of a shortage in the number of hospitals in developing countries and the large number of unemployment in them and because of the large number of The years of study and because it has become the tendency of students to work for jobs that have few years of study. Although there are students who have something that may help reduce the number of deaths and find a cure for many diseases; Therefore, we must support students who want to become doctors to help people.
Well, there are many reasons for the lack of doctors around the world. The first reason is: it is possible that the rotab is a reason for this. For example: If the doctor's salary is low per month, he will resign from his work because he will not be able to pay his bills, house costs, food, and clothes, and this is a reason for the resignation of some doctors. The second reason is pressure at work. It means that the doctor is very busy, goes from one patient to another, treats more than one patient, and his work is always exhausting. This is something that will cause him to resign from his work because of his fatigue, which will reduce the number of doctors.The third thing is the psychological conditions of some doctors. It is possible for the doctor to enter into a psychological condition, which he sees during a patient’s surgery, and he becomes mentally ill and fears blood or operations, and this thing causes a shortage in the number of doctors. The fourth thing is mistakes in work. It means that the doctor makes a mistake in his operation and causes the death of the patient, so the doctor regrets the mistake he made in the operation, which led to his resignation and his regret for what he did or his expulsion from his work.This also relates to age. There is a specific age for a doctor to resign from his work. Frankly, I do not know what is the exact age for doctors to resign, so I will give you an age from me. Well, if the age of a doctor is around 59-60 years, he will not have a good health condition, as he may have diseases at this age such as heart disease, diabetes and pressure, so his health condition will deteriorate if he is He works a lot so he will quit his job.Not only that . My father is a doctor who goes to work from nine in the morning until ten at night. We do not have time to see him or talk to him because in the morning we are at school, but in the evening we are asleep, so we do not always see him. When we see him, he tells us that he is trying to quit his job so that he can stay with us and we will always be with him. You also saw that this leads to a shortage of doctors
I want to become a doctor, because I simply hate feeling helpless when someone or someone I love is in pain in front of me. This is killing me a lot.. I want to offer something for them and the world, even if it is just a little. I'd take a path other than medicine to make this happen, if there was one!
There are a lot of people graduating privileged in their studies and they want to make their dreams come true and become doctors and so forth, but their physical circumstances don't allow it because teaching medicine needs a lot of money, and also there are men and women learning.Medicine and graduate with a certificate but they are not fortunate to hire and work and also because of fatigue, fatigue and working day and night. There are elderly doctors who are tired and sick and also the salary that good gets is little and not suitable.
I think that doctors’ refusal occurs because of the difficulty of this specialization for some, and also there are countries that do not recognize education (ignorant countries) and they do not care about education much, so there is a great shortage of doctors, and also some people get tired of their situation and it happens with them Depression
Doctor shortages are becoming more and more common over the world.
One of the most common causes is the salary. Money are controlling our lives and you can end up in a dead end if you don't have the necessary amount. As a result many doctors choose to work in other countries/places that pay better. The country must give the doctors a reason to stay in and try to give the salary that they deserve.
This brings us to the next cause. Doctors leave their country to work in other places. There are many reasons why a doctor would leave the country but a lot of countries don't have the necessary equipment or condition for them to work in. If the country really can't afford the equipment I think the best idea would be to make a donation box for people to donate and to find other ways to solve the underfunding problems.
And one of the last causes is that some people want to become a doctor but can't afford. This issue is kind of common in poor countries and is sad to think that people can't make their dream true. The country should offer a extra amount of money for the family where a kid has chances to achieve becoming something in live so that they can pay for their studies.
Hi Inspiring _Shrimp - it can be a concern if people with lower incomes cannot afford medical school fees. Would you suggest a grant (i.e. a gift which is not repaid) or a loan (i.e. the monies need to be repaid)? Should there be any conditions attached?
Most people dreamed of being doctors when they were young, but when they grow up, the dream changes, especially for girls, because some fathers and mothers say that the doctor is hard work for the girl, and if she works as a doctor, it affects her home and family, and also that the doctor’s work is very tiring, and whoever becomes a doctor must bear the responsibilities that This specialization also follows that the study of this specialization lasts for many, many years, approximately 7 years without specialization and 12 years with a specialization. The shortage of doctors. The second reason is the lack of expertise in the world and also because of the high rates that the country allows to enter medicine. For example, in my homeland of the year, the lowest rate of entering medicine was 94%.
This rate is few people can achieve due to the lack of achievement rates in the world that are allowed for the specialty of medicine, and sometimes the financial situation does not allow the individual to enter the Faculty of Medicine, and there are many reasons, but these are the reasons that prevent the individual from entering the Faculty of Medicine, but these are the reasons that circles in my head when I heard about this.
The solution that I want to say is for the student to be confident in himself and that he can overcome the difficulties of this dream as long as he finds hope and persistence in it, and that the parents must raise the morale of their student even if he is of low achievement, so his academic level must be raised to achieve his dream, and you must consider it from the story of Edison And his mother, and also the state must lower specialization rates for medicine to allow most students to enter it.
Hi Fearless_Engineer - you refer to additional pressures that girls may face if they choose to study medicine. Do you think there could be any differences if more doctors were female in your country?
I am not referring to females only, and males live with some problems, including poor financial situation, which does not allow them to study this specialty, and also obtaining a rate that is not permitted to study in the state, and their harm to alienation and travel for university studies abroad.
As for the question you asked me, my answer is yes, because the Arab world in particular supports males being among the workforce in the Arab world and does not support the female in that. It considers that the female should not be part of the workforce, but rather she should take care of her home after marriage, as well as in the field of medicine, so they consider that the female You cannot bear the hardships of this specialty, but the male is the person who deserves it.
I've always been passionate about anatomy and the human body but once I learnt about how hard it is to become a doctor and how mentally fatigued you can get, I immediately checked it off and never considered it ever again.
I feel like THAT is the main reason why there are shortages of doctors, the process of actually becoming a full time doctor is one of the most difficult and exhaustings things ever. You have to study almost every single day for long hours then after that work atrocious hours every single day after you've successfully become one.
Also another reason why there are little doctors in countries is because of wages. Why would a person work in a poor country where they get little to no money, when they can just go to a rich country and get a higher salary because the government isn't as corrupt? This leads to a small amount of doctors in the poor countries.
To help target these problems, I think we should reduce the hours of studying but increase efficiency in those studies. Decreasing the hours of studying can help tremendously, it reduces fatigue and stress by a long shot also increasing the efficiency of it like making it more enjoyable and much easier. And to resolve the wage issue is to financially support the poor countries with better trade routes and more donations to them.
The cause for the shortage of doctors in India it’s because they don’t get paid a lot and if they aren’t paid a lot, after they finish the doctor school they go to get a job for that profile that they were and after a month of work hard in india they see how much they were paid and after they see they go in another country that it pays better then India and another example is that in india there are a lots of doctors that are reaching retirement age so that means when they do retire there could be no more doctors if all the young ones leave. To help these problems we should send more money to india or we can send to them more machinery that are helping with making the money, then they can increase the payment for doctors and a lot more jobs that are in india and thats how we can solve the problems
I think the root causing the global doctor shortages are quiting from training because they realize it’s difficult to become a doctor, or doctors may quit the job because they think they aren’t payed well. But if they love their job, they might not quit it, because if you like what you do, the money doesn’t matter.
Another root causing the global doctor shortages in many countries is that people study so much in their native countries, but they leave their country because of the unnecessary equipment or poor conditions.
Since joining the European Union (EU), in 2007, Romania has been dealing with a huge emigration of medics. I think that many people here, in Romania are studying medicine more for the money than the joy of helping people.
As many as the country's doctors flee the system for better-paying jobs, the profesionalism of the medical staff who choose to remain is increasingly in question.
Several hospitals outside the capital of Romania, Bucharest deal with the lack of the personal.
In 2016, nearly 10 deaths per 1,000 live births were reported in Romania - a significant drop from 15 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2003. Dealing with these shocking statistics could affect a doctor's mental health.
I think that it would be a good idea to give the people more money and more security for the future. Maybe that would make them more into staying in Romania.
Hi Victorious_Leaf - you mention that you think that people are studying medicine for the money rather than a love of the profession. Do you think these people could still be good doctors?
The medical profession is very beautiful, but some do not like it and some love it, and there are those who dream of becoming a doctor and there are those who never dream of it, but I say that medicine is one of the greatest professions and studies because through medicine you can save many lives And treating large numbers as well, but I think the reason that makes people turn away from medicine is because it needs a high average of high school, and also there are people who are afraid of medicine because there are those who hate blood, and some of them are afraid of entering Operations, and among them are those who fear that one of the patients will lose their lives during an operation or otherwise, so the doctor blames himself. I think that people think that the medical profession is difficult for them, but medicine needs those who master it and who have the courage and the strength of the heart.
I think that we cannot do anything for people who hate to enter operations and other things that make it difficult for them to enter the medical profession, but we can convince some who love medicine very much, but are afraid that they will not master it through experimentation with an animal first or Experimenting with games and other things, or watching many videos on the Internet that talk about medicine and give them more experience and enthusiasm, so they enter the world of medicine and become good at their work (the medical profession is difficult, but it becomes easy for those who love it).
What i can say about all this is that ,Doctors are not well paid ,their work is too much and they are paid less compared to the work they do and they also have families to take care of not only patients .Most doctors do not sleep, they are ever awake to look after their patients and others do not even get time for their families because of their work yet they are less paid.It is very expensive to learn medicine and becoming a Professional Doctor needs requires too much money and a long time , so that makes some people live their dream career for other careers .All this will make the world a disaster for living with out doctors because most of the future doctors will end their careers in the present.
What we should do if to fight for the doctors rights and the government should do something for the doctors payment and bring unity among us .
From my point of view, the task of doctors is beautiful and enjoyable, but there are those who do not like it because there are operations and surgeries in it, and the failed doctor bears the responsibility for the operation if it becomes hateful to the patient, and it is in the point of some people that it is difficult and the amounts of studying medical science are expensive, so there are not many doctors, but there are those who love it and consider it An easy task, and there are those who do not like him and consider it a difficult task
Thanks for this efficient_moment. Do you have any empathy for those doctors who find the responsibility of the job difficult?
As all we know that doctors are considered as god . doctor saves one's life . there is a lack of doctors . there may be several reasons like : low wages offered to them , many more doctors are in this field , in rural areas there is no hospital which can be a part of the reason . we need doctors in our life . whether we have cold or a big disease the first one we contact is the doctor only . in my opinion several this can de done from preventing this like I wish the Ministry of Health to pay more attention to doctors And raise their salaries, and get appreciation from the people, and my advice to you is to take care of your health because it is the most precious thing we have. to conclude my answer i respect each and every doctor . they are real time warriors and saviors ..
What causes doctor shortages?
In my opinion, there are many reasons for doctor shortages.
One of them:Delaying or reducing their salaries and we all know that doctors deserve everything good for them Because they do their best to treat patients, if there weren't any doctors, probably half of the world would be sick or even dead! They also risk themselves in times of war to treat the wounded, so doctors deserve to give them all their salaries and what they need.
The second reason may be because there aren't Jobs for doctors, and there are many unemployed doctors, which leads them to travel abroad to search for job opportunities so, I think the government should provide jobs for them and support them with everything.
Around the world there are many doctors being employed, but hospitals have realized the high number of doctors resigning from their jobs, one of the main reasons of shortages of doctors is lack of fair payment. Doctors are also fatigued and frustrated of the long days and night due to the fact of late and long shifts. The fear of loosing their patients in their hands makes doctors lose confidence. I think by loosening the weight of the workload and distributing the work evenly between the doctors can solve some of the cause of the shortage, the hospitals should offer at least a one year training course to make doctors more confident about what they are doing, the doctors should be appreciated not only in pay but also recognition to boost their motivation, I believe the doctors should also engage themselves with their patients to create a bond and more freedom between both individuals. This way doctors will find more peace in their workplaces.
I believe reasons for global shortage of doctors are as follows. Firstly is the education system, and another is the low motivation of a person who wants to become a doctor. And there is also laziness. People of now days like the sweetness and pleasures that came with such big jobs like being a doctor, lawyer, engineer and more others, but they never want to put in the hard work and they also love taking shortcuts to success not putting in mind that the more you take corners the harder you fall and to get back up will take more effort energy strength than if you just took the right way.
I feel that to solve the current situation that we have at hand is we should work on the education systems because most people are under the influence that studying to become a doctor is really hard. I also feel that still in the education sector we should making studying to become like doctor enjoyable. We should also teach how becoming a doctor helps a lot of people and also. l feel like government can also motivate the doctors by providing for the some basic needs to motivate people. and as a community we should spread word about all the goodness that comes with bein a doctor and we should also make our current doctors feel appreciated because they deserve it and more.
Do you think it's become harder to be a doctor?
Sort of because off the standards we have put for ourselves
Despite the increase of diseases and pandemics in the world, doctor shortages in a world wide problem that is growing very fast. Possible causes are long period of studying, low pay, poor working conditions, scarcity of jobs among others. As the root causes, I would consider low pay, long period of studying and poor working conditions.
• I would like to kick off with low pay. Doctors work more than they are paid. In some countries doctors are paid less than teachers but yet in deep detail, a doctor deserves more than a teacher. They wake up early in the morning, go to their work stations and work with a lot of concentration keeping an eye on the patients and drugs administered to them. This causes a lot of fatigue because the doctor doesn't have to let his guard down or the patient may suffer further injuries and perhaps death. In this type stressful working environment, doctors really deserve more than they are being paid currently which forces most to live their home countries hoping to find better working places that offer higher payment options. Which causes a shortage of doctors in their home countries.
• Next is long period of studying. In most countries getting government scholarships is hard and tuition for the courses like medicine and surgery, doctrine. are very expensive so therefore many people don't make it through mainly not because they don't want to but because of high costs of learning.
• To sum everything up is poor working conditions. Doctors risk their lives treating patients of all kinds of diseases but the fact that they are usually not provided with enough protective gear and equipment when handling patients of chronic diseases makes them to fall victim of the diseases hence dying and reducing the number of experienced doctors like many that were lost in the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition the doctors are given low salary and sometimes it delays which has a negative impact on their families as they aren't in position to provide full basic needs. This makes doctors think they are not being appreciated for their hard work hence quitting and discouraging those that want to be doctors and thus shortage of doctors.
Well, there are many causes, but a very important cause is being paid less than a doctor deserves. . Also, medical school is so expensive and hard, that most of the people trying to become a doctor give up. Doctors save peoples lives all the time, they realy deserve more. What we can do is start speaking out for doctors. We all start protesting when it comes to some unfair things in our personal life, but just closing our eyes when it happens to others. Let's start being united and give the doctors what they deserve, before most of them just give up, and find some other well paid jobs. We can not actually live without doctors.
Doctors suffer a lot because of the spread of diseases such as Corona, and they play to find treatment, and it also accumulates and we push patients to them
Which occupies their time and they can only rest a little, and this applies to most of my family
And the doctor’s profession began to diminish due to lack of salaries or backlogs. I suggest that we relieve them and not tire them out by taking care of our health by eating fruits and vegetables and staying away from harmful foods and frying pans and by following safety instructions and not polluting the environment so as not to accumulate respiratory diseases all appreciated
I agreed
I imagine that doctors leave their jobs for different reasons, and I also think that there are lots of different reasons that people are not actually getting the jobs as doctors.
One reason why I think people are leaving jobs as doctors is because many people such as myself struggle with anxiety and when you actually see someone's life come to an end it just really makes your anxiety come to life leading on to my next one, the pressure is unbearable especially as a surgeon knowing that a person's life is in your hands.
There is also another way to look at it, it is extremely hard to get a job as good as a doctor because you have to train for ten years, and I imagine that the training must be very hard and very expensive. You have to be very talented.
You bring up a good point about the emotional stress involved for some doctors. I think this is a big factor. Your other point is that it is extremely difficult to become a doctor. The training is very long, and it is quite expensive without much reward in their early career.
Populations in many countries are becoming older which will increase the pressure on health systems.
What do you think can be done to encourage more people to study medicine?
why are there doctor shortages?
i believe there are many issues with doctor shortages around the uk in many different places linking to best_groundhogs point its the exhaustion and having to be alert all the time and you have to be experienced with children and learn all the body parts and how they work also for how much doctors help around i think there is an extremely lack of appreciation from governesses and other higher ranked ppl leading on to my next point meds is a thing we should all be greatful for and yeah these are my reasons why there are doctor shortages!
This is a very interesting discussion. I would like to bring my discussion to the case study of my country, Nigeria first. People is a shortage in Nigeria because:
1.) Many students are thinking twice to study medicine.
2.) Students who eventually become doctors in Nigeria move to work in other countries leaving behind a shortage in other countries.
1.) In my country, Nigeria, the reason why fewer people are studying medicine is because of factors like the cost of study, and length of the study period. I know this because I wanted to be a doctor at some point in my life and I have made my research based on my country. In Nigeria, the cost of studying medicine is very high. Many people prefer to go to public universities because the cost of study is less than that of private universities but there are downsides to public universities and the major one is: The incessant strikes organized by the ASUU (Academic Staff Union of Universities) that are effected mostly in public universities. This prolongs the already long study period for medicine by years. Many students have really been affected by this and because of this, they have switched to courses with shorter time of the study. I have a friend that is studying medicine at a public university. This is one of the comments he made while we were discussing it some time back.
"I really do not want to study medicine anymore I was supposed to graduate years ago but because of the ASUU strike, I have not graduated yet. I am really getting frustrated. I feel like I will be wasting my time following my passion of studying medicine so I will switch to an easier course"
It is not uncommon to hear stories like this where I live and undergraduates who hear stories like this quickly change their minds about studying medicine.
Moving to private universities, the cost of studying medicine in Nigerian private universities ranges from (1,000,000 to 4,500,000 naira) per year which most families cannot afford to pay. So many people leave studying medicine out of their options.
2.) There are many push factors for medical students out of Nigeria and into other countries. They are things like poor salaries, poor working conditions, and so on. Doctors leaving Nigeria to work abroad have now become the freshest thing since sliced bread and it is causing a brain drain and a shortage of doctors in Nigeria which is not good for our system. When students who end up studying medicine in Nigeria despite all odds come to look for work in Nigerian hospitals, they are paid stipends compared to what it took for them to study the course and this discourages them from working in Nigeria. The working conditions are also poor. There was a story in Nigeria of a hospital in Nigeria where when surgery was taking place, the power source went out and since there was no other power source at that moment, a rechargeable lamp was used to finish the surgery. The patient still survived after the surgery but it is because of working conditions like this that doctors are leaving Nigeria for other places.
Are there any scholarship opportunities for medicine? Are there other solutions you can think of that would help address the issues you've mentioned?
Sadly, there are no scholarship opportunities for medical students in Nigeria. That is why many medical students rely on scholarships abroad. Abroad scholarships have been working for some but it is not everyone that can afford to apply for these scholarships. Only the rich or at least middle-class students can afford to apply for these scholarships because the exams to be written in order to get scholarships are expensive. For example, SAT exams are $60 in the US but it costs 65,000 nairas for the registration fee, 25,000 nairas for the rescheduling fee, and 10,000 for the score reporting charges. It is not easy for any students. Some can afford to pay others cannot and those who cannot are forced to deal with the harsh conditions following medical students in Nigeria.
The solution I can think of is for the government to take interest in giving scholarships to students because when medical students start leaving it will cause a brain drain and this will be detrimental to the economy of the nation. Private university owners as well should consider giving scholarships to exceptional students for their efforts. It will encourage many of the medical students to stay back in Nigeria to study.
You make some great points here. Please can you explain what you mean by "brain drain" so that other Topical Talker's can understand that important point.
"Brain drain" is also known as human capital flight. It is when highly trained and qualified professionals living in a developing country leave in search of better opportunities in developed countries. Pull factors are factors that attract individuals out of one country and into another in search of better opportunities. They are things such as higher employment rates, higher salaries, and a perceived increase in quality of life. The push factors are negative things that make individuals want to leave a country in search of greener pastures. They things such as unemployment, insecurity, decrease in quality of life, and so on.
In Nigeria, many people are living the country due to some of the factors I have mentioned. It has become "the freshest thing since sliced bread". Recently I was discussing this with one of my friends and she made a comment on this issue. She said, "The way Nigerians are leaving this country, I am sure if you go anywhere in the world, you would find thousands of Nigerians there." There is actually some truth in what she said because not Just Doctors, everyone is leaving nowadays. The new slang for it here in Nigeria is "Japa" which means "to leave". You hear people saying things like this all the time here. I wonder whether this issue of brain drain is only in Nigeria. Is it happening in other countries too? Topical talkers are free to comment on the situation in their countries too.
Wow you have really done great effort and shown a lot of knowledge welldone, Amazing_computer!!
Usually people choose a career based on various points like a career they love and a career that is profitable that's able to make them wealthy. We can't deny that medicine career is a very profitable business, but at the same time it is so hard and the path for being a doctor bumpy with a lot of obstacles. Being a doctor will take you a lot of time like 5-7 years at first to make general health medicine then to be specialized in a specific issue you have to learn more years for about approximately 5 years. For that reason people search for other jobs that can be easier with less time taking and at the same time profitable. So here comes the technology field that doesn't just have high demand but it's also a lot more profitable with less time of learning, for that people are avoiding medicine and searching for other majors.
As a personal experience I always hoped and wanted to be a doctor specialized in cardiovascular system, but then I thought of it why wouldn't I think of something easier that take me less time of learning, so I found software engineering as a major that I'm in love with and it can being a lot of money and with less years of learning, so I found it the perfect major to learn.
There are many causes of doctor shortages.
Doctors are well engaged in there duties and the years that is needed to study medicine is longer than that of other courses. The question that we should be asking ourselves is how many people are ready to to put in that amount of years on studies.
A major cause is the recognition of doctors, when you are putting in much effort into something and your effort is not seen it will make you feel less of importance or spending time on an effortless job and most doctors today feel that way and it is making them draw out of medicine and look for occupations that their effort will be more recognised and respected. I also feel due to the increase in diseases the demand for doctors is way more than the normal supply for doctors.
I believe that the reason for the lack of a number of doctors is that they believe that the field of medicine is exhausting, tiring and difficult, so they resort to other fields, as well as the lack of a suitable environment for learning medicine in some countries and the lack of financial resources that the student needs in poor countries to travel abroad to learn and the fear of some of making medical mistakes that lead the life of the patient or put him in danger.
Great points credible_emotion! Can you think of any ways we could encourage doctors to stay in the medical profession? Or for more people to train as a doctor?
The world suffers from the problem of a shortage of doctors, especially in developing countries, because they lack the ability to build medical colleges and support them adequately, and this happens especially in rural areas. On the other hand, doctors emigrate to other countries to take more income than they receive, and this is another reason that leads to a decline in health care. In addition, the doctor's psycological health is another reason, as he may fear losing one of his patients and living in a state of grief and blaming himself. Likewise, this profession exhausts the doctor and makes him live in stress and lose his ability to absorb that huge amount of work . So do you think that we should first help those people to skip their fears and encourage them to learn and work hard to become doctors ? Or country it self should find a solution ? Which one is the main cause of this problem ?
Ok i think that the main reason why Doctor elope to other country is because of the insufficient payment in the organisation.My aunt is a Doctor in a teaching hospital but due to low wage rate of doctor her work mate are now eloping to other country .they have requested more raise but it seems that , there orders were decline, some even got sacked due to the request . so my aunt had an oppurtunity to leave when she passed the doctor examinations . Others doctor find new oppournities due to better pay rate in other country's , for a better standard of living. And some doctors leave due to lack of facilities in the hospital some lives could be saved but for the lack of facilities they left to placed that they can save as much lives as possible due to great health facilities