Medical Brain Drain in Romania: Trends before and after Accession to the European Union

This article aims to identify the impact of Romania’s accession to the European Union on medical emigration, analyzing the evolution of the phenomenon before and after 2007. Prior work in this field consists in theoretical and qualitative studies, highlighting the push and pull factors contributing to the emigration of Romanian physicians, the impact and the possible measures. Emigration trends before integration are analyzed using a data set existing in the literature. For the following period, between 2007 and 2010, the data set was filled by collecting statistics on the medical doctors trained in Romania and practicing abroad from the destination countries. The results confirm the concern rose about the massive emigration of medical doctors following the integration, compared to the previous period: between 2007 and 2010, Romania lost 8131 physicians. This study has major implications for academics with interest in modeling the effects of medical brain drain on economic development. Also it is a valuable instrument for policy makers, offering an overview of the magnitude of this phenomenon, helpful in adopting the right policy measures. The article offers a unique data set on the emigration of physicians, constituting a starting point in the attempt of implementing a monitoring system