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Facing migration and <strong>the</strong> global shortage in medical doctors, many countries have been<br />

reacting around <strong>the</strong> world to put in place global policies that will help promote health<br />

care through medical doctors.<br />

I.1.1.3 Migration Policies<br />

Literature suggests that migration is not a free process since it involves many direct costs,<br />

indirect costs, social and legal barriers that migrants are exposed to while settling in <strong>the</strong><br />

new destination. As migration engages human capital, it is of a great concern to policy<br />

makers. High skilled emigration benefits from special attention as it is believed to be<br />

bringing gains to <strong>the</strong> destination country while having important direct and induced<br />

negative effects in <strong>the</strong> country of origin. Beine, Docquier, and Özden (2011) confirm that<br />

<strong>the</strong>re is evidence of policy effect on migration; although this effect is larger for unskilled<br />

labor and those originating from low income countries, it is still significant for skilled<br />

individuals. Bhargava et al. (2001) argue that emigration of medical doctors deserves<br />

special attention from policy makers as it involves connections between population’s<br />

health and economic growth especially at <strong>the</strong> level of developing countries.<br />

In fact, Bhargava, Docquier and Moullan (2011) argue that <strong>the</strong> supply of medical doctors<br />

in developing countries is highly linked to <strong>the</strong> improvement of human development<br />

indicators. Stark and Fan (2001) found that when developing economies open up to<br />

migration of skilled workers, unemployment is exacerbated. Their study demonstrates<br />

that government policies with regard to employment affect policies to restrict or open up<br />

to skilled labor migration, medical doctors included. The reasons discussed above give<br />

strong arguments of <strong>the</strong> extent to which migration of medical doctors and critical and<br />

how it affects development, global heath, and unemployment. Policy makers around <strong>the</strong><br />

world have raising concerns about this issue and strive to define a health system that<br />

alleviates <strong>the</strong> shortage while taking into consideration medical education as <strong>the</strong> supply<br />

mechanism of physicians. There is a prevalent need for alternative policies. Bourgain et<br />

al. (2008) consider that substitution policies are strategies sometimes chosen for<br />

curtailing <strong>the</strong> shortage of health professionals especially caused by <strong>the</strong> outflow of<br />

medical personnel.<br />

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