Dr Peter Arnold

So, why did you leave your country?

AUSTRALIA, like most western countries, relies heavily on a steady influx of international medical graduates to keep its health services running. Our top four ‘donor’ countries are Britain, India, New Zealand and South Africa. Together, they have ‘donated’ some 20,000 doctors. Indeed, Australia is becoming progressively more reliant on IMGs, with the 2006 census showing that half of our doctors were born overseas. Some commentators view this migration as an ‘unethical poaching’ of doctors from countries in the developing world, which can ill-afford to lose doctors. This view is echoed in other ‘importing’ countries – Britain, Canada and the US.This fails ...