What price Romania has to pay for being one of the main providers of physicians in Europe?

Abstract

Purpose

The migration of physicians is a global interest, causing imbalances between developed and developing countries. Romania is one of Europe's major providers of physicians, not because there is a surplus, but because physicians are drawn to places with better living and working conditions. Medicine in Romania is increasingly highly advanced, and Romanian physicians are well appreciated all over the world. Despite being one of the countries with the most medical graduates in the world, Romania is suffering a doctor exodus. After joining the EU, the problem of physician migration became widespread, resulting in a deficient and inefficient healthcare system. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to estimate the losses registered by Romania because of physicians' decision to migrate.

Design/methodology/approach

These losses were calculated in two ways: utilizing the statistical life value and the amount of money invested in training a medical graduate.

Findings

According to the findings, the losses in 2018 were 104.16 million euros, approximately 0.12% of GDP.

Originality/value

The originality of this paper consists in data, being provided by the College of Physicians from Romania and the method used, this study being the only one that estimates the cost of Romanian physicians' migration. The paper adds to existing knowledge an empirical results regarding quantifying the value reflecting the departure of physicians, using value of statistical life and the amount of money invested in preparing a medical graduate.

Citation

Apostu, S.A. and Akkaya, B. (2024), "What price Romania has to pay for being one of the main providers of physicians in Europe?", Kybernetes, Vol. 53 No. 5, pp. 1593-1606. https://doi.org/10.1108/K-07-2022-0931