To the Editor: The article by Hawthorne and Hamilton, International medical students and migration: the missing dimension in Australian workforce planning?,1 highlights the issue of international students wanting to stay in Australia for internships and beyond. While the ethical dilemma created by keeping much-needed future doctors from their own countries has been extensively debated, the reality is that Australians, especially those in rural and remote settings, will rely on overseas-trained doctors for health care until the “tsunami” of current Australian medical students complete their training (in about 2020).
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- Rural Health Academic Centre — Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne, Shepparton, VIC.
Correspondence: ddewitt@unimelb.edu.au
- 1. Hawthorne L, Hamilton J. International medical students and migration: the missing dimension in Australian workforce planning? Med J Aust 2010; 193: 262-265. <MJA full text>
- 2. Critchley J, DeWitt DE, Khan MA, Liaw S. A required rural health module increases students’ interest in rural health careers. Rural Remote Health [internet] 2007; 7: 688. Epub 2007 Jun 1.
- 3. Jensen CC, DeWitt DE. The reported value of rural internal medicine residency electives and factors that influence rural career choice. J Rural Health 2002; 18: 25-30.
- 4. Mullan F. The metrics of the physician brain drain. N Engl J Med 2005; 353: 1810-1818.
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