ArticleBMJ global health2020
The impact of physician migration on mortality in low and middle-income countries: an economic modelling study.
Article in BMJ global health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 64 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
64 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 116 citations in OpenAlex.
- Authorship representation in global emergency medicine: a bibliometric analysis from 2016 to 2020.BMJ global health · 2022Pooled it
- International migration of Africa-born health workers: a scoping review of drivers and policies, 2010-2024.Human resources for health · 2026Article
- The global and domestic in policy: Impacts on medical education and migration.Clinical medicine (London, England) · 2026Review
- Predictors of migration intentions among Turkish physicians: a lasso logistic regression approach.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Depression, anxiety, suicidal risks and clinical correlates among migrant Egyptian physicians a cross-sectional study.Discover mental health · 2026Article
- A perspective on AI implementation in medical imaging in LMICs: challenges, priorities, and strategies.European radiology · 2026Article
- The Iran Healthcare Professionals' Charter of Rights.Archives of Iranian medicine · 2026Article
- Antenatal Care Utilization and Delivery Location: Evidence from Postpartum Women in Enugu, South East Nigeria.International journal of MCH and AIDS · 2026Article
- The anatomy of a decision: exploring the push, pull, and personal factors of emigration intent among Turkish medical students.BMC medical education · 2025Article
- GDP per capita and physician migration across world regions, 2000-2021.Globalization and health · 2025Article
- Beyond financial incentives: a quantitative study on spatial stigma and Puerto Rican physician migration to the United States.Global public health · 2025Article
- Health worker unemployment in countries with critical health worker shortages: a rapid synthesis of evidence from 33 countries.BMJ global health · 2025Review
- Bridging Hypertension Care Shortfalls Between Provider Capacity and Patient Needs: A Pooled Analysis of Data From 199 Countries and Territories.Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979) · 2025Article
- Article
- Health Workers in Sub-Saharan Africa: Concurrent Skilled Health Worker Shortages and Under-Employment.The International journal of health planning and management · 2025Article
- A Review on the Double Burden of Diabetes and Myocardial Infarction: Healthcare Challenges and Future Prospects in Low and Middle-Income Countries.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Tendency to migrate among Iranian nurses.BMC nursing · 2025Article
- Reducing maternal, neonatal, and child mortality and improving quality of health care through a national task-shifting program for public hospitals in Liberia.Human resources for health · 2025Review
- Assessment of the capacity of health facilities in preventing and managing non-communicable diseases in selected regions of Somaliland.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Changing primary care capacity in Canada: protocol for a cross-provincial mixed methods study.BMJ open · 2025Article
4 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: The WHO estimates a global shortage of 2.8 million physicians, with severe deficiencies especially in low and middle-income countries (LMIC). The unequitable distribution of physicians worldwide is further exacerbated by the migration of physicians from LMICs to high-income countries (HIC). This large-scale migration has numerous economic consequences which include increased mortality associated with inadequate physician supply in LMICs. Methods: We estimate the economic cost for LMICs due to excess mortality associated with physician migration. To do so, we use the concept of a value of statistical life and marginal mortality benefit provided by physicians. Uncertainty of our estimates is evaluated with Monte Carlo analysis. Results: We estimate that LMICs lose US$15.86 billion (95% CI $3.4 to $38.2) annually due to physician migration to HICs. The greatest total costs are incurred by India, Nigeria, Pakistan and South Africa. When these costs are considered as a per cent of gross national income, the cost is greatest in the WHO African region and in low-income countries. Conclusion: The movement of physicians from lower to higher income settings has substantial economic consequences. These are not simply the result of the movement of human capital, but also due to excess mortality associated with loss of physicians. Valuing these costs can inform international and domestic policy discussions that are meant to address this issue.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.