Some Correlates of Residence Preference Among Foreign Medical Graduates

The migration of foreign medical graduates from less developed Asian countries to the U.S. has been growing in recent years. This case study of Thai medical graduates in Buffalo, New York analyzes factors related to their preference for remaining in the U.S. vs. returning to their home country. The sample appears to he representative of medical graduates from Asia in terms of age, sex, and trainee status. Results indicate those who were interns and residents, nonimmigrants, and nonlicensed, as well as those with a home position to return to had significantly higher probabilities of returning to their home country. Immigrants, posttrainees, and those with a state license and no home position had a high probability of remaining in the U.S. It appears that “pull“ factors arc more important than “push” factors in determining the residence preference of foreign medical graduates from Asia. Efforts to reverse the growing “brain drain” of physicians from the less developed countries of Asia to the U.S. will be primarily dependent upon U.S. policies regarding immigration and licensure

Business · Demographic economics · Economics · Immigration · License · Licensure · Medical education · Political science · Position (finance) · Preference · Residence · Sociology · Demography · Diversity and Career in Medicine · Global Health Workforce Issues · Medicine · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Psychology