“Brain Drain” among Medical Students in a Nigerian University

A bstract Background: Brain drain is the emigration of individuals who have received highly skilled professional training from their home countries. Brain drain of healthcare professionals has become a serious problem in Nigeria. Objective: We aimed to assess the desire of final year medical students in Nigeria to practice abroad after graduating from their medical school. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study of final year medical students of Enugu State University of Science and Technology was performed using a questionnaire containing information on age, sex, students’ academic performance, desire to practice medicine after qualifying, choice of level of practice (specialist/none specialist), choice of location of practice, and reason for deciding to practice outside Nigeria. The reason of choosing to practice outside Nigeria was assessed using a 5-point Likert scale. Data were presented as mean and percentages, and Pearson’s correlation was used to assess the correlation. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Sixty-one (61) out of a total of 73 students responded, with 39 males and 22 males giving a female: male ratio of 1.8. The mean age was 26.06 ± 2.45 years. Fifty-seven respondents (93.4%) expressed the desire to migrate upon graduation. The 12 students (100%) who had made at least a distinction in a course (subject) would like to practice outside Nigeria. No significant correlations were found between age and desire to practice abroad ( r = −0.184, P = 0.156); sex and desire to practice abroad ( r = 0.199, P = 0.472); and academic performance and desire to practice abroad ( r = −0.94, P = 0.472). Conclusion: The problem of brain drain in Nigeria’s health sector is deeper than it shows on the surface as nearly all young medical graduates in a Nigerian medical school are not inclined to staying back in Nigeria after graduation.