The article I found about immigration was titled “Physician emigration from Germany: insights from a survey in Saxony, Germany”. This article is a study based on the observation of physicians immigrating out of Germany to work elsewhere. Germany is facing a shortage of physicians, not due to a lack of people working to become physicians, but because these workers leave. The purpose of this research was to find what was pushing these physicians to leave.
In 2014 alone, 2364 physicians immigrated out of Germany to work in other countries like Austria, Switzerland, and the USA. This study surveyed over 2000 physicians and found that 29.5% wished to immigrate due to one or several factors. The most common reasons for wishing to leave were their overall satisfaction with their work situation, heavy work load, and lack of leisure time. Being female, in a relationship, or having children were common factors seen in those that did not wish to leave. This study also found that most of those interested in immigrating had already looked at options or taken steps to do so. Almost a third of those studied were unsure if they wanted to leave, which is a rather large amount of physicians unsure of wanting to stay. It was found that patient interactions were not a factor in the physicians wanting to leave, therefore leading to the possibly that the issue physicians are facing is with the structure of the medical system for which they are working. These physicians are wanting to leave not to flee anything horrendous, but instead to make a happier and better living for themselves, as we see with immigrant populations. Germany is my ancestral home, and though it was challenging to find information about immigration from this country in current times, this article stood out as an extremely thought provoking and important piece about the immigration possibilities faced in professional careers.
Citation:
Pantenburg, Birte, et al. “Physician Emigration from Germany: Insights from a Survey in Saxony, Germany.” BMC Health Services Research, vol. 18, no. 1, 2018, doi:10.1186/s12913-018-3142-6.