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Original research
Migration intent among Jordanian medical students: a nationwide cross-sectional investigation
  1. Yousef Omar1,
  2. Assem Al Refaei1,
  3. Abdallah Raed Al-Qawasmeh1,
  4. Hamza Ghazzal1,
  5. Heba Kalbouneh2
  1. 1School of Medicine, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
  2. 2Department of Anatomy and Histology, School of Medicine, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
  1. Correspondence to Yousef Omar, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan; yousefomar909{at}gmail.com

Abstract

Purpose of the study To investigate postgraduation emigration intents of medical students throughout different years and different universities in Jordan.

Study design This cross-sectional study was conducted via an online self-administered questionnaire from medical students in six schools of medicine in Jordan. Our questionnaire included two sections with questions regarding sociodemographic, intentions and reasons behind residency and fellowship abroad, and views on Jordanian residency programmes.

Results Of a sample of 1006, 55.7% were females, and 90.7% were holding Jordanian citizenship. 85% and 63% of respondents intended to pursue residency and fellowship abroad, respectively. Intention to continue residency abroad was associated with males, expatriates and those living in urban areas. The main three destinations were the USA (37.4%), UK (22.3%) and Germany (16.6%). 30% of respondents intended to leave the country permanently, because of low salaries, poor education and lower ranking of Jordan residency programmes. When asked about ranking Jordanian residency programmes, it was found that on average, students ranked military hospitals first and government hospitals last with university hospitals being in second place and private hospitals in third.

Conclusion Unfortunately, a striking number of Jordanian medical students intended to leave the country postgraduation, which points towards the necessity for Ministry of health to take immediate actions to reduce the loss of our best students.

  • EPIDEMIOLOGY
  • MEDICAL EDUCATION & TRAINING

http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/postgradmedj-2022-141817

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors YO is the guarantor of the study. YO, ARQ, and HK were involved in conceptualization. HK was the main supervisor. YO, AR, ARQ, and HG contributed to data collection. AR was the main contributor to data analysis. All authors participated in writing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.