The massive departure of doctors abroad at the end of their training worries the Moroccan authorities. This is the observation made by the Minister of Higher Education, who has just revealed alarming figures.
About 700 of the 1,400 trained annually in medical faculties leave Morocco to settle in Europe and Canada. According to Abdellatif Miraoui, who spoke before the chamber of advisers, most of them come from the faculties of medicine, pharmacy, and dentistry. “The Moroccan doctor is in demand in Europe. Thus, during the coronavirus crisis, Germany suspended visas for nationals of all countries in the world except for Moroccan students,” reports the daily Al Ahdath Al Maghribia.
According to the union of doctors in the private sector, nearly 300 doctors leave Morocco each year. Germany and France are their host countries. Moreover, more than 8,000 Moroccan practitioners have already settled there. For the minister, we must quickly find an effective solution to this situation which is undermining the health system. “To fill the great shortage of doctors, it is not enough to increase the number of places in the faculties, but we must motivate the new graduates so that they stay in Morocco”. Abdellatif Miraoui also proposes that the duration of training be reduced, as is the case in certain countries such as the United States and Canada.
For the trade unions, “working conditions and low pay are pushing a large number of executives to leave Morocco to settle in European countries and Canada”. Before thinking of reducing the duration of the training, they recommend improving the living and working conditions of doctors. For them, if the treatment was better, the situation would not be so alarming.
