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Nationality and country of training of medical doctors in Malawi


Adamson S Muula

Abstract

Background: There is growing interest in the migration of doctors from Africa to developed nations. Little attention has been made in understanding the flow of doctors into African countries. Objective: To describe the nationality, country of primary qualification as a doctor and specialties of doctors registered in Malawi in 2003.

Methods: Review of Medical Council of Malawi 2003 register and University of Malawi-College of Medicine graduation records.

Results: There were 252 doctors registered by the Medical Council of Malawi (MCM) of whom 51.2% were Malawian and 48.8% non-Malawian. 35.7% of the doctors had obtained their primary education in Malawi, 17.5% from the UK, 9.9% other African countries and 8.7% from other African countries. There were 72 specialists of whom 23 were Malawian nationals and 49 were non- Malawians.

Conclusions: There is almost an equal distribution of national and non-national doctors in Malawi. However, among specialists, non-national far out-number Malawians by over two and a half times. While the brain drain of doctors from developing nations to developed nations has received interest, there is need also to explore the migration of doctors into resource-poor countries such as Malawi.

African Health Sciences Vol. 6(2) 2006: 118-119

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eISSN: 1729-0503
print ISSN: 1680-6905