Building capacity for equitable healthcare workforce policy, learning
from migrant healthcare workers: a qualitative study with Romania
physicians working in Germany during COVID-19
Abstract
Background. Attention to the healthcare workforce has
increased, yet comprehensive information on migrant healthcare workers
is missing. This study focuses on migrant healthcare workers’
experiences and mobility patterns in the middle of a global health
crisis, aiming to explore the capacity for circular migration and
support effective and equitable healthcare workforce policy.
Material and methods. Romanian physicians working in Germany
during the COVID-19 pandemic served as an empirical case study. We
applied a qualitative explorative approach; interviews (n=21) were
collected from mid of September to early November 2022 and content
analysis was performed. Results and discussion. Migrant
physicians showed strong resilience during the COVID-19 crisis and
rarely complained. Commitment to high professional standards and career
development were major pull factors towards Germany, while perceptions
of limited career choices, nepotism and corruption in Romania caused
strong push mechanisms. We identified two major mobility patterns that
may support circular migration policies: well-integrated physicians with
a wish to give something back to their home country, and mobile
cosmopolitan physicians who flexibly balance career opportunities and
personal/family interests. Health policy must establish systematic
monitoring of the migrant healthcare workforce including actor-centred
approaches, support integration in destination countries as well as
health system development in sending countries, and invest in
evidence-based circular migration policy.