Migration intent among Jordanian medical students: a nationwide cross-sectional investigation

To investigate postgraduation emigration intents of medical students throughout different years and different universities in Jordan.

This cross-sectional study was conducted via an online self-administered questionnaire from medical students in six schools of medicine in Jordan. Our questionnaire included two sections with questions regarding sociodemographic, intentions and reasons behind residency and fellowship abroad, and views on Jordanian residency programmes.

Of a sample of 1006, 55.7% were females, and 90.7% were holding Jordanian citizenship. 85% and 63% of respondents intended to pursue residency and fellowship abroad, respectively. Intention to continue residency abroad was associated with males, expatriates and those living in urban areas. The main three destinations were the USA (37.4%), UK (22.3%) and Germany (16.6%). 30% of respondents intended to leave the country permanently, because of low salaries, poor education and lower ranking of Jordan residency programmes. When asked about ranking Jordanian residency programmes, it was found that on average, students ranked military hospitals first and government hospitals last with university hospitals being in second place and private hospitals in third.

Unfortunately, a striking number of Jordanian medical students intended to leave the country postgraduation, which points towards the necessity for Ministry of health to take immediate actions to reduce the loss of our best students.