What is Known About Emigration of the Romanian Doctors and What We Should Expect in the Future

Romania has experienced in the last two decades a high emigration of the healthcare workforce, especially after joining the European Union. This study aimed to describe the trends in emigration of the Romanian health professionals and the potential changes of the intention to leave, considering the country context and the recent national measures. Four parameters intended to be analyzed: the number of physicians working in Romania, and in other countries respectively, the national capacity for providing undergraduate medical training and the intention to leave of the young graduates. We found an accelerate process of emigration of doctors, especially after the EU accession, wider compared to the increase of the national capacity for providing medical training and more rapid in the last years. The recent measures of motivation through the income increase appear to have limited impact on the intention to leave, at least for the young doctors. Systematic and coordinated efforts are needed in the next future to better understand which are the most effective interventions to respond to this situation. Among these interventions, improving the information system in this area should be a priority.