The ethical concerns of physician recruitment from Africa to the global North

For decades, medical recruitment agencies have tried to deal with physician shortages in rural and remote areas of developed countries by recruiting physicians from areas of scarce health human resources in the global South. In South Africa alone, one-third to one-half of medical school graduates migrate to the global North every year, with the majority settling down in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.1 This review paper aims to bring attention to the unethical practice of physician recruitment from Africa to the global North. In particular, it will explore how physician recruitment negatively impacts the donor countries’ economies, compromises the quality of care they can give their citizens, and provides only a short term solution to the recipient country. It is critical that this practice is prohibited and that countries in the global North look for sustainable solutions within their own borders to solve workforce shortages.