Migration Intent Among Early-Career Doctors in Pakistan: A Cross-Sectional Study of Influencing Factors at a Tertiary Care Hospital.

Authors

Sadia Rehman, Shaikh Muhammad Owais Saeed, Muhammad Irfan Khattak, Hammad Ali, Gohar Awais, Sakina Shah Perver, Sania Nisar, Sana Younas

Published in

Cureus. Volume 18. Issue 6. Pages e110673. Epub Jun 11, 2026.

Abstract

The objective of this study is to assess the prevalence of migration intent among interns and residents at a tertiary care institution in Pakistan and to identify perception-based factors associated with this intent.
A cross-sectional study was conducted at PNS Shifa Hospital using a structured, self-administered Google Form questionnaire (Google Inc., Mountain View, CA, USA). A total of 252 participants (house officers and postgraduate trainees) were recruited. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics software, version 27 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Chi-square tests and binary logistic regression were applied to identify significant factors of migration intent.
Out of 252 participants, 52% expressed a preference for postgraduate training abroad, with the United Kingdom (54.2%), the Middle East (16.8%), and the United States (15.3%) being the most preferred destinations. Key push factors included low salary (65.6%), poor working conditions (53.4%), and unemployment (46.6%). Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that perception of better quality of life (OR = 1.91, p = 0.015), improved training opportunities (OR = 1.77, p = 0.024), and a better working environment (OR = 1.95, p = 0.010) were significant predictors of migration intent.
This study provides institution-level evidence on migration intent among early-career doctors, highlighting the role of perception-driven factors in shaping career decisions. A substantial proportion of participants expressed an intention to pursue postgraduate training abroad, primarily due to perceived socioeconomic and training-related advantages abroad. These findings may inform institutional-level retention strategies and highlight areas for further multicenter and longitudinal research.

PMID:
42437233
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 12 Jul 2026.

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