Brain drain: Saudi officials arrive to hire more Pakistan doctors

[Armstrong]

There should be a ban for all educated people to leave the country
Will help solve the 'brain drain' problem

Says a guy sitting in the UK ! *joke* !

 

[p(-)0ENiX]

I would not say it as Brain drain. It is just the law of physics. Stuff move from areas of higher concentration to areas of lower concentration. It is a simple fact.

That's true, but in this case it's not exactly like pouring blue ink in to a glass of water. The original article states that there is a requirement for good doctors in Pakistan as well, & you probably already know this, no matter how many doctors there are in Pakistan, not all doctors are going to be good.

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

India is focusing on growing healthcare within India to keep pace with the economic growth. Pakistan currently is hard pressed for Forex... Hence the difference..

our forex position is not ideal, but far from critical....it's fairly stable

it's simple economics.....people follow the money trail. Opening a private clinic in DC or New York - perhaps spending 2-3 times per week to lecture at a university or medical school offers more financial rewards than medical positions in Pakistan

incidentally, there is another side of the picture.....look at Doctors Hospital in Lahore (I call it dakoo hospital simply because of the exorbitant costs). They treated me after a motorcycle accident i had and my bill was friggin high....they treated my grandfather also when he broke his left femur bone. There are many privately run hospitals that are run by western-educated Pakistanis who spent many years in west before coming BACK to Pakistan to set up operations there. So it works both ways. For example, my cousin's husband travelled all the way from Ireland and settled in Pakistan to conduct the country's first succesful liver transplant. Now he is operating in Pakistan making good money and also helping the country.


while we should view this as mere economics - well yes it's disappointing to see brain drain. Blame the government for that.


under the previous regime led by Gen (r) Musharraf, more overseas Pakistanis were coming to Pakistan and bringing boat-loads of money and brains with them than ever before. The conditions have to be ripe, as do the policies.


the ''good'' from this would obviously be in the form of remmitance payments and intangible things like ''giving a good name and face to Pakistan'' etc.


there are already a lot of Pakistani, Egyptian, Turkish and western doctors in the GCC so i'm surprised theyre trying to bring in more when their population is relatively small

 

[longbrained]

That's true, but in this case it's not exactly like pouring blue ink in to a glass of water. The original article states that there is a requirement for good doctors in Pakistan as well, & you probably already know this, no matter how many doctors there are in Pakistan, not all doctors are going to be good.

Actually to tell you the truth, I agree that we should have better pay packages for our high skilled people. But at any rate since I am myself a doctor, I can testify that Pakistan is producing more doctors than it needs and than it can ever hire. Already there are many doctors who are jobless. A large percentage of female doctors actually give it and become "house wives" just because there is not enough incentive to work. There is an absent culture and social security system for family physicians specially in rural areas exactly because of lack of incentives. I do not want to bring shame to my country's name by disclosing the amount government pays the doctors as the so called "salary" but we all know the problems. So if we have more brains than we can possibly use and there is a place that needs those brains so be it. Until Pakistan does not come up with universal health care system modeled after Canadian, British or French system, it is even useless to discuss this issue.

 

[Nothing]

You do however.. need a clearance from the GoP as a doctor before you go abroad.. and sign a statement that you will try to impart whatever you have leant outside back here.
However.. there is no criminal punishment for those that abscond from this agreement.. and therefore.. this is just a formality.

How much GOP invest behind one doctor during ones study ..

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

Nails. I need the iron.

iron deficiency is an awful thing.

i know a great halal butcher just off rockville pike, in maryland

stock up on that red meat, son!

 

[somebozo]

The salary figures are at-least three times inflated and are most likely part of PR campaign to attract more crowd..remember the key word.."up to". and it looks like OEC is doing this to get kickback from those getting employees...

 

[khanz]

what persian god king banned ?? I liked his posts

 

[p(-)0ENiX]

Actually to tell you the truth, I agree that we should have better pay packages for our high skilled people. But at any rate since I am myself a doctor, I can testify that Pakistan is producing more doctors than it needs and than it can ever hire. Already there are many doctors who are jobless. A large percentage of female doctors actually give it and become "house wives" just because there is not enough incentive to work. There is an absent culture and social security system for family physicians specially in rural areas exactly because of lack of incentives. I do not want to bring shame to my country's name by disclosing the amount government pays the doctors as the so called "salary" but we all know the problems. So if we have more brains than we can possibly use and there is a place that needs those brains so be it. Until Pakistan does not come up with universal health care system modeled after Canadian, British or French system, it is even useless to discuss this issue.

In that case maybe we should send all the average doctors abroad & keep the good ones for ourselves.

As for the abomination that we call our government, I can't really say anything about our government without resorting to swearing. The government bears the responsibility to not only create jobs for it's citizens but to encourage foreign investment resulting in the creation of new jobs. You are right that Pakistan does require a social security system & a universal health care system. What does our government do with the direct & indirect taxes it collects? That should aid them in setting up some sort of social security system.

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

Kanye West once accused George W. Bush of not caring about black people, after Hurricane Katrina when the US Government did diddly squat to bring relief to the people of New Orleans (most of those affected being African American people of lower income bracket)


well i'll be the guy to say Zardari and the PPP government dont care about Pakistani people...or Pakistan


no sense of nationalism, no sense of duty.

 

[Desert Fox]

the Americans, Saudis, Emirates etc. are doing the same to blue collar indians

so it's a joint problem and the onus is on the government to provide incentives to BRING BACK these people

How can the government bring these people back?

The Saudis are offering them good and up to date facilities, not to mention a good salary, what will the Pakistani government offer them to change their mind?

The government is corrupt, and so are most of the institutions, and no one is to blame but the people.

This is interesting. On the other side of the border India is trying to pressure Indian doctors to stay and serve their country, Pakistan is actually facilitating Pakistanis to go abroad and provide service to other countries. I suppose its okay if people aren't against it.

I'm against it, but even the doctors themselves would rather go to Saudi/GCC's because of the pay and better facilities.

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

well if we are talking about private doctors with private practices, not much govt. can do except offer subsidies or grants etc. which even in my mind is not a priority when a lot of other development projects (even energy projects) are on hold


yes i also blame Pakistanis -- the ones who cheat, lie and don't pay their taxes

 

[Jango]

My opinion is that if doctors get established, and after 15 years, they can earn a good amount of money in Pakistan.

But if you go abroad, you get it after 1 year!

 

[user1]

How can the government bring these people back?

The Saudis are offering them good and up to date facilities, not to mention a good salary, what will the Pakistani government offer them to change their mind?

The government is corrupt, and so are most of the institutions, and no one is to blame but the people.



I'm against it, but even the doctors themselves would rather go to Saudi/GCC's because of the pay and better facilities.

The govt. is corrupt and doctors are selfish as is evident from the recent strikes by 'young doctors'. They received their education on subsidised fee, they are supposed to pay back by going to impoverished areas and countryside, serve the poor dis-advantaged population. This is especially easy when they are recently qualified, young and unmarried; they can not have the alibi of unavailability of good schools for their children. Even when they are transferred to remote areas, they open their private clinics or are mostly absent from their duty. They need to know that before they demand any rights, they are required to fulfil their obligations.

In such condition, when the doctors are only working for their own selves and govt. is unable to assert it's authority - economic migration is a viable option. At least they will send some much needed foreign exchange.

 

[S.U.R.B.]

The govt. is corrupt and doctors are selfish as is evident from the recent strikes by 'young doctors'. They received their education on subsidised fee, they are supposed to pay back by going to impoverished areas and countryside, serve the poor dis-advantaged population. This is especially easy when they are recently qualified, young and unmarried; they can not have the alibi of unavailability of good schools for their children. Even when they are transferred to remote areas, they open their private clinics or are mostly absent from their duty. They need to know that before they demand any rights, they are required to fulfil their obligations.

In such condition, when the doctors are only working for their own selves and govt. is unable to assert it's authority - economic migration is a viable option. At least they will send some much needed foreign exchange.

So, by your logic the doctor who has got graduated from a private institution must be free of all restrictions because the "Subsidized fee " structure doesn't apply there?

I'm against a doctor going on strike ,but do you know the background of the issue that led to the case?