While the government is stepping up measures to train more doctors and even attract foreign doctors to Morocco to deal with the crippling shortage of practitioners, more than two-thirds of students in their final year of medicine in the faculties of the Kingdom, intend to pursue a career abroad, according to a study by five researchers from the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy at Hassan II University in Casablanca. Their favorite destination is Germany. The details.
Will Morocco manage to achieve its objective of putting 3,300 new doctors on the health market each year? According to a study carried out by five researchers (AK Sylla, S El Ouadih, K Barknan, S Hassoune, S Nani) from the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy at Hassan II University in Casablanca, the answer is no. Indeed, according to this report entitled “Migration intention of final year medical students”, more than two-thirds of students in their final year of medicine in faculties in Morocco (71.1%) plan to leave the country, of which 61.6% are women.
The reasons that push these medical students to leave their country are multiple. “Among the reasons given by students who responded positively to migration were the ambition to pursue a career abroad, due to better development opportunities (97.6%), better working conditions (99%), and a better quality of life in the host country (97.2%).
In addition, 95.2% of these students expressed their dissatisfaction with the quality of current training and salary (97%). According to them, the media also have their share of responsibility in their intention to leave their country. Indeed, 83.6% prefer to emigrate because of what they perceive as contempt and undervaluation of the doctor’s value in the media.
It should be noted that the study carried out in 2021 and published this week in the scientific journal “European Journal of Public Health” (Oxford Academys), was based on a sample of 251 final year medical students at the Faculty of Casablanca.
In terms of destinations, Germany is the country most cited by future doctors, 34% of their dream of moving there, while Moroccan doctors mainly opted for France during the last decade.
In 2018, the faculties of medicine and pharmacy in the country trained only 2,282 doctors, against 1,715 in 2007, an increase of 25%. Despite this significant increase, the backlog is around 1018 doctors. This deficit, which is widening due to emigration, mainly to France, retirement, and early retirement, is likely to increase further. More than 8,000 Moroccan doctors born in the Kingdom currently practice in France. According to a study by the National Council of the Order of Physicians in France, practitioners born in Morocco represent the second largest community of doctors born abroad.
In Morocco, the deficit in health personnel is estimated at just over 32,000 doctors and 65,000 nurses. A deficit that has been most felt with the health crisis due to covid-19. In addition, the kingdom is currently implementing its strategy for the generalization of universal social coverage, which devotes pride of place to improve its health system by 2035. The success of this project depends on achieving the doctor per inhabitant ratio, the world average of which is 13 doctors per 10,000 inhabitants, and 7 per 10,000 in Morocco.
Aware of the situation, the government is stepping up measures to train more doctors and even to open the door to foreign doctors to practice the profession in Morocco. On February 17, the Executive decided to modify the period of training in medicine and to increase the number of educational places open to students in the Faculties of Medicine, Pharmacy and Dentistry. Thus, the duration of training for doctors in Morocco will increase from 7 to 6 years. This is the information contained in a note from the Ministry of Higher Education signed ten days ago, addressed to the presidents of public universities. This measure is presented as a solution to manage the shortage of professionals in the country.
