Moroccan doctors’ immigration

Author: Karim Moutchou

Medical Student, Fez Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy

Editor: Yuki Senoo

Morocco, the birthplace of millions of immigrants living around the world, is currently marking a new rise in the figures of “VIP immigration.” Medical doctors are not an exception, and an essential portion of the Moroccan population is deciding to leave the country to seek better social and professional lives. Moroccan doctors and medical students are heading to Germany as a primary destination. In recent decades, Germany seems to have opened its arms to foreign doctors more than any other countries in the world. This circumstance has raised hopes and concerns among everyone on both sides of the Mediterranean.

In 2010, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) mentioned that at least 2.6 million people born in Morocco are living outside of their home country. This number accounts for approximately 10 percent of Moroccan citizenship holders. Now, Morocco is the 10th largest population of immigrants around the world. This position in the ranking is exceptional for us, considering that Morocco is only in the 40th place for the total population of the world. This report pointed out that 7,000 of those immigrants are medical doctors.

The number of practicing doctors in Germany rose from 237,000 to 385,000 between 1990 and 2017, despite having low modifications in the general population numbers. In addition, we have to consider that German doctors are leaving their country as well. The Doctors' Di