Expectativa de emigrar de internos de medicina de la Universidad de Cuenca

Abstract

Objective: To describe and identify factors related to the expectations of potential emigrant medical interns from University of Cuenca, Ecuador, 2012. Material and Methods: An analytical crosssectional study. Medical interns were surveyed in their places of practice. Measures of frequency, position and dispersion were presented. The Chisquare test and simple logistic regression were used. The odds ratio and its respective confidence interval of 95% were described. Results: 152 medical interns of University of Cuenca participated. Of those, 72.4% said they were interested in emigrating. They were highly motivated for educational reasons. The most requested destinations were: Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Chile and the United States. 3.6% of medical interns said they would not return to Ecuador. Protective factors related to emigration interest were identified as: coming from provinces other than Azuay (OR: 0.19, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.83) and whether it is possible to study their chosen specialty in Ecuador (OR: 0.24, 95% CI 0.08 to 0.69). Risk factors were identified as: working in an urban area (OR: 4.33, 95% CI 1.15 to 16.24) and meeting financial expectations in another country (OR: 2.76, 95% CI: 1.24 to 6.14). Conclusion: The study found that a high percentage of doctors are thinking of emigrating. They are interested in accessing a specialty for their professional development. Countries with better economic development are their preferred destinations.