Doctors Fleeing Greece

Unemployment among doctors in the capital, this year, ran at 10.3%, with 2,598 of its 25,163 active members without a job, compared to 12.4% (with 3,147 out of 25,303 registered doctors in Athens out of work) last year.

The ISA attributed this drop in the unemployment rate to emigration. The organisation estimates that 6,872 Athens doctors have left Greece in the last five years, with emigration picking up in the last 24 months.

The destinations of choice for emigrating doctors are the UK, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, France, Belgium, the US, the United Arab Emirates, Norway, Italy, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain and Cyprus.

According to the ISA statement, "an unprecedented wave of emigration from Greece, not just of unskilled labour, but the most highly skilled: the skilled doctors of our country."

To add insult to injury the health minister of Turkey extended an invitation to Greek doctors to seek employment there. In response the ISA noted that immediate changes were required in the management of medical personnel so that doctors are not driven out of the country.