Reversing Health Sector Brain Drain among Medical Students and House Officers in South-South Nigeria

Background: Brain drain (BD) is the movement of highly educated individuals or professionals from a low socio-economic country to a more advanced socio-economic country for professional opportunities. The aim of this study is to evaluate Reversing Health Sector Brain Drain among Medical Students and House Officers in South-South Nigeria: A Crossectional Study. Method: This was a cross-sectional study involving 350 (final year medical students 200 and house officers 150). A well-structured questionnaire was administered to participants. The study lasted for a period of 2 months. Exclusion criteria was those medical students who were not in final year and doctors that were not house officers. Inclusion criteria were final medical students and house officers. This study used a simple random sample of 200 participants, calculated using the Taro Yamane formula, and data were analyzed with SPSS version 25.0. Results: Study revealed that 94.3% of the participants (final year medical students and house officers) are willing to stay and practice in Nigeria if factors that will enhance better work conditions are put in place. Also, 71.4% of the doctors said better welfare who keep them back in the country and 71.4% of the participants said training and re-training of healthcare professionals is a panacea for brain drain. Conclusion: The study revealed that majority of the participants said the good work condition, attitudinal change by the consultants, provision of jobs for doctors, equipping of hospitals with good facilities and ending kidnapping of doctors are instruments of reversing brain drain in Nigeria.