2 proposals to keep Filipino doctors from going abroad

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2 proposals to keep Filipino doctors from going abroad

April 30, 2005
Updated 00:19am (Mla time)
Christian Esguerra
Inquirer News Service

HOW do you keep Filipino doctors from leaving for abroad?

A member of the Philippine College of Physicians is proposing that the government require all doctors trained in state-owned hospitals to work in the country for a specified period before being allowed to seek greener pastures elsewhere.

Dr. Antonio Dans, chief of the Philippine General Hospital's adult medicine section, said his proposal was also meant to encourage doctors to stay and plot their career as "generalists or internists."

He noted that there was a wide gap between the number of general practitioners and specialists like cardiologists and pulmonologists.

The discrepancy has made health care more costly, he said.

When patients have to deal with many specialists, they naturally have to shell out more money, he explained.

But many of these cases can very well be handled by an internist who has a "broad knowledge and approach," Dans said.

No problem with specialists

"We're not saying that there's a problem with specialists. The problem is with the proportion (between the number of internists and specialists), not with the people," the doctor explained.

In fact, specialists such as cardiologists can be of help to internists by coming up with guidelines in the handling of cases like hypertension, Dans said.

The Philippine College of Physicians will tackle the problems during its 350th annual convention on May 3 to 6 at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel.

Clash of 2 rights

"It's really a clash of two rights," said Dans.

"While a doctor has the right to find his own destiny, the government also has the right to make sure that its investment becomes worthwhile," he said.

A logical requirement would be a year's service in government hospitals for every year of training, Dans has proposed.

This will mean that a doctor who has completed a regular three-year residency in a state institution like the PGH cannot leave for abroad until he serves for three more years in the country.

An estimated 30 percent of the country's 100,000 registered doctors have migrated to North America, according to Philippine Medical Association president Bu Castro.

Dans' proposal essentially seeks to expand an existing policy covering doctors sent by government hospitals for training abroad to cover all medical graduates of state institutions.

Dans, who was sent on a fellowship to train for two years on clinical epidemiology and cardiology at the McMaster University in Canada, said he had to work at the PGH for six years after completing the course.

Short-term solution

"It's a contract used by some government institutions. I think we can use this principle on more doctors to encourage them to stay," he said.

But this idea would provide only a short-term solution to the medical diaspora, he said.

"We really have to give them a reason to stay. And this involves a long-term solution that would entail an improved economy, among other things," said Dans.

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