ArticleHuman resources for health2019
Experiences of foreign medical graduates (FMGs), international medical graduates (IMGs) and overseas trained graduates (OTGs) on entering developing or middle-income countries like South Africa: a scoping review.
Article in Human resources for health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed.
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- Supporting international medical graduates-what can be done better? A sequential explanatory mixed-methods study.PloS one · 2025Article
- A qualitative study of career decision making among African and Asian international medical students in China: process, challenges, and strategies.Advances in health sciences education : theory and practice · 2024Article
- International medical graduates: defining the term and using it consistently.BMJ global health · 2024Article
- Challenges affecting migrant healthcare workers while adjusting to new healthcare environments: a scoping review.Human resources for health · 2024Article
- Article
- Inequitable treatment as perceived by international medical graduates (IMGs): a scoping review.BMJ open · 2023Article
- Choosing Alternative Career Pathways after Immigration: Aspects Internationally Educated Physicians Consider when Narrowing down Non-Physician Career Choices.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Labor Market Integration of High-Skilled Immigrants in Canada: Employment Patterns of International Medical Graduates in Alternative Jobs.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Choices of Specialties and Training Sites among Taiwanese Physicians Graduating from Polish Medical Schools.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Professional experiences in the transition of Cuban-trained South African medical graduates.South African family practice : official journal of the South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care · 2021Article
- International medical graduates: how can UK psychiatry do better?BJPsych bulletin · 2021Article
- Professional integration of immigrant medical professionals through alternative career pathways: an Internet scan to synthesize the current landscape.Human resources for health · 2021Review
- Alternative career pathways for international medical graduates towards job market integration: a literature review.International journal of medical education · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundForeign medical graduates (FMGs) have continued to render effective health care services to underserved communities in many high- and middle-income countries. In rural and disadvantaged areas of South Africa, FMGs have alleviated the critical shortage of doctors. FMGs experience challenges to adjust to new working environments as they have studied and obtained their medical qualifications in a country that differs from the one where they eventually choose to practise.
objectivesThis scoping review synthesises literature about the experiences of FMGs upon entering a host country and the factors that facilitate their adjustment to the new context.
methodsThe systematic review was performed to analyse articles from an initial scoping of published literature on the experiences and adjustment of FMGs between 2000 and 2016. Searches were conducted through MEDLINE and PUBMED on keywords that included "foreign medical graduates", "experiences" "adjustment", "adaptation" and "assimilation". The database searches yielded 268 articles and a further 3 were identified through other sources. The number of articles was reduced to 20 after the removal of duplicates and the application of the exclusion criteria. A qualitative thematic analysis was performed.
resultsThe searches revealed an overall lack of studies on the experiences and adjustment of FMGs from the African continent. FMGs faced professional barriers, lacked country-specific knowledge and experienced stress when practising in a new location. They attributed their successful adjustment to innate personal characteristics including a persistent attitude and the use of various coping strategies. Other facilitating factors included early orientation and professional and personal support.
conclusionThe review highlighted the need for research from developing and middle-income countries and for an increased awareness of the challenges and enablers to help FMGs adjust to new clinical settings.
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