Indian psychiatrists in the Australian workforce – From brain drain to brain exchange

Abstract

Worldwide doctors have been migrating from low- and middle-income countries to high-income countries for decades. This contributes to dearth of doctors, especially psychiatrists, in low- and middle-income countries – often referred to as ‘brain drain’. Australia has a fair share of psychiatrists of Indian origin in its workforce. This article endeavours to re-formulate the migration phenomenon as ‘brain exchange’ through the experiential insight of the authors along with published literature and discusses the contribution of substantial number of psychiatrists of Indian origin to the Australian society. Furthermore, the article highlights the potential for the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists to be a leader in this area by facilitating globally responsible practice by giving back to countries from which psychiatrists originate. The key observations and recommendations are transferrable to other similar countries and equally to other medical specialities.

Protean and Boundaryless Career Attitudes as Antecedents of Organizational Commitment—Evidence from the Indian IT Industry

“…India has a vast workforce, including an emerging large IT sector. India supplies its workforce to offshore companies in the USA and Australia [24][25][26]. Studying how a boundaryless career orientation can shape employee behavior in the IT sector in India can offer valuable insights to researchers and practitioners [27].…”

Brain drain among Sri Lankan psychiatrists

“…Many Sri Lankan psychiatrists migrate to the United Kingdom and Australia. Sri Lanka should communicate with governing authorities there to shift from brain drain to brain exchange, where these high-income countries contribute to improving mental healthcare here (15).…”

RANZCP Abstracts

“…1 The Sutherland Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia 2 Braeside Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia Background: Among the overseas-trained psychiatrists migrating to Australia, psychiatrists of Indian origin (PIOs) are the largest cohort in recent years (Pai et al, 2021). PIOs contribute significantly to the Australian psychiatric workforce (Pai et al, 2021). Coming from a different background is challenging but it is perhaps also one of the strengths of PIOs.…”