Migration of health workers from relatively poor countries has been sustained for more than half a century. The rationale for migration has been linked to numerous factors relating to the economies and health systems of source and destination countries. The contemporary migration of health workers is also embedded in a longstanding and intensifying culture of migration, centred on the livelihoods of extended households, and a medical culture that is oriented to superior technology and advanced skills. This dual culture is particularly evident in small island states in the Pacific, but is apparent in other significant migrant source countries in the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Family expectations of the benefits of migration indicate that regulating the migration and attrition of health workers necessitates more complex policies beyond those evident within health care systems alone. © 2014.

Migration Health workers culture skills Human capital Technology Pacific islands

Health Personnel cultural anthropology Culture Africa south of the Sahara economics poverty health care personnel family attitude human Niue Asia economic aspect Fiji socioeconomic status income Central America ethnology Professional Competence health personnel attitude altruism United States career mobility migrant worker social status family paramedical education family life psychology quality of life labor migration Humans extended family Socioeconomic Factors Pacific islands socioeconomics cultural factor Article health care migration health worker Samoa Emigration and Immigration Tonga low income population expectation health care system cultural influence human capital