Vol. 8, Issue 4, Part A (2025)

Aims: The aim of this study was to discuss and explore ethical aspect of brain drain and related main factors for emigration regarding future career opportunities and practice, higher salary, better living conditions, and equity.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 2,005 male and female Turkish physicians, aged 25-65 years old, was conducted employing the Brain Drain questionnaire. Associations were tested through multivariate statistical analyses.
Results: Significant differences were observed among physicians staying in Turkey vs. considering migration to Western countries, regarding their age, gender, marital status, educational level, occupational status, work years, hospital night shifts, income, and cigarette/nargileh smoking habits (all p≤0.018). The main reasons for brain drain included transport problems, harassment, low salary, malpractice, bad environment, job insecurity, workload, burnout, treating difficult patients, inadequate postgraduate systems, peer pressure, health safety concerns, favoritism in the workplace, as well as stress and depression caused by work overload. Additionally, key predictors of brain drain were better job opportunities, shortage of essential medicine and patient treatment, research weakness, dealing with difficult patients, over workload and burnout, job depression, work stress, transportation issues, bad hospital management, short consultation time and low salary payments, independently from each other.
Conclusion: The key factors contributing to physician dissatisfaction and the subsequent migration from developing to developed countries are multifaceted and significant. These include limited job opportunities, shortages of essential medicines and treatment options, insufficient research support, challenges in managing difficult patients, and excessive workloads leading to burnout. Additionally, job-related depression, high levels of work stress, transportation issues, poor hospital management, inadequate consultation times, and low salary payments further exacerbate the situation. Collectively, these issues drive many physicians to pursue better working conditions and career prospects in developed nations.