Factors Influencing the Migration of Iranian Healthcare Professionals: A Qualitative Study Publisher Pubmed



Asadi H¹ ; Ahmadi B² ; Nejat S³ ; Sari AA¹ ; Garavand A⁴ ; Kia AA⁵ ; Hasoumi M⁶ Show Affiliations
Source: PLoS ONE Published:2018

Abstract

Background The migration of healthcare specialists from developing countries has increased in recent years. This has caused a rapid reduction in the access to and quality of healthcare services in such countries. The aim of this study is to evaluate the factors affecting the migration of specialist human resources in Iran’s healthcare system. Methods This is a qualitative study, which was carried out through semi-structured interviews between 2015 and 2016. For sampling, purposive sampling method with maximum variation sampling was used. Further, data saturation was observed by conducting 21 interviews, and data analysis was performed using the MAXQDA10 content analysis software. Results Factors affecting the migration of specialists were classified into five key themes, including structural, occupational, personal, socio-political and economic factors. These themes consisted of 12 categories and 50 subcategories. The most important factors affecting the migration of our study population were structural issues, occupational problems, and personal concerns. Conclusion Identification of factors influencing migration is the first step to prevent the migration of specialist human resources. Implementing the recommendations proposed in this study would assist to prevent migration of medical professionals. © 2018 Asadi et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.