In a survey conducted on MBBS students from the Institute of Medical Studies (IOM) Maharajganj campus, 100 percent said they were planning to go abroad. It has been found that 41 out of 43 participants (95 percent) have registered for the exam to go abroad.

The report submitted on Sunday by the study task force on the improvement of service facilities for doctors and health workers formed by the government has brought out this fact. The thinking and planning of the medical students of IOM, which is considered to be the best educational institution in the country, reflects the state of the country's overall health sector and doctors.

The data of Nepal Medical Council also shows that the number of Nepali doctors who migrate abroad is increasing every year. According to statistics, in the last 4 years, 8,624 new doctors were registered in Nepal. 6 thousand 368 doctors have taken good character certificate (good standing certificate) from the council to go abroad. They need to get the certificate for further study and work abroad. 

Looking at four years of data, about 74 percent of newly registered physicians have gone or are planning to go abroad for job search and further studies. In 2020, 769 doctors received certificates to go abroad, and in 2021, almost twice as many as 1,327 people received certificates.

In 2022, the number of doctors who took certificates to go abroad increased further and reached 1,954. In 2023, 2,318 people got the certificate, according to the council's data.

As of 2023, there are 34 thousand 910 registered doctors in Nepal. Since 2020, 2,000 to 2,500 doctors have been registered with the council annually. In recent years, it has been found that doctors are going abroad at around the number of registered doctors. 2 thousand 131 in 2022, 1716 in 2021, 2 thousand 85 in 2022 and 2692 new doctors were registered in 2023.

Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Tankak Prasad Barakoti, a committee consisting of experts has also pointed out the reason why Nepali doctors go abroad. It is mentioned in the report of the reaction committee that they were forced to go abroad due to low salary-facilities, lack of study-research and professional development, lack of sophisticated health institutions, incidents of violence in health institutions. The committee submitted the report to Health Minister Pradeep Poudel on Sunday. The government formed the committee two years ago.

According to the Medical Council, doctors are going to more than 20 countries. Among them, there is a data showing that the attraction of Nepali doctors is more in countries like America, UK, Maldives, UAE, Australia, India, Canada, Germany etc. In 2023, 843 doctors were certified to go to America.

505 people for Britain, 395 people for Maldives, 186 people for India, 166 people for Australia, 142 people for UAE. In 2022, 592 doctors were certified to go to the UK, 496 to the US and 453 to the Maldives.

President of Nepal Physicians Association Dr. Anilvikram Karki says that the health policy of the state is unclear and there is no plan for manpower production and management, so the tendency of doctors to go abroad has increased. "There is no increase in posts in government hospitals, duties should be more than salary and facilities, salary and facilities will not be increased," he said. 

There is even more labor exploitation in private hospitals, not even proper wages. Doctors are forced to go abroad in search of a safe future, he said. Doctors do not want to stay in Nepal because of unclear health policies and programs from the center to the local government.

"The service facilities of doctors in Nepal are weaker than in the neighboring countries, here you have to take physical and mental stress apart from work," he added. He said that the investment in the health sector of the state is low and the investment is spent on the construction of hospital buildings and the purchase of equipment. 

'You can't get a job here, even if you get it, there is no proper salary facility,' he said, 'Some doctors go abroad with their families forever, while some go abroad for a while and return after improving their financial situation.' Even the doctor is not safe. Karki complained. He said, "All doctors should take the cost of health treatment. In Nepal, the salary of doctors is not enough to treat them and educate their children if they fall ill." He expressed his displeasure by saying that even doctors trained by the government on a scholarship were forced to go abroad after working on a contract for two years. "The behavior of the government is not such as to keep the manpower produced in the country in the country, what to do if they don't go abroad?," he said, "The government has been wasting investment by not being able to employ even the doctors who have been educated on free scholarships by investing in the country."

Arun Upreti said that the number of students going abroad after completing MBBS is increasing. He said, "In most countries, after MBBS, the fees for studying higher education in medicine are not high, while studying, you can also get a job with attractive facilities," he said.

Recommendation to increase doctor's salary from 1 lakh to 2.5 lakh The committee headed by Barkoti has suggested to the government that the salary facility of doctors should be increased to at least 1 lakh to 2.5 lakh per month to stop the trend of going abroad. The committee consists of joint secretaries and deputy secretaries of the Ministry of Finance, Law, Health, Education, Labor and Employment, and member secretaries of the Medical Education Commission.

 The committee suggests that the monthly salary of MBBS/BDS doctors should be between 1 lakh to 1 lakh 25 thousand and MD, MS, BDS doctors should be given between 1.5 lakh and 1 lakh 75 thousand. It has been pointed out in the report that doctors with DM, MCH degrees should be given a salary facility of 250,000 to 250,000 per month. It is also suggested that the minimum monthly salary should be adjusted and uniformity should be maintained by adjusting the allowances given to doctors in different names across the country.  The

committee has also recommended that resident doctors who study in private medical colleges be given government-like salary allowances. There has been a dispute between the medical college management and resident doctors on this issue. The recommendation of the committee is that intern doctors should get 50 percent of the salary of eighth level medical officers and resident doctors should get full salary of eighth level. The monthly salary of the eighth level is 48 thousand 737 rupees. 

According to the committee, the private medical college gives a subsistence allowance of 18,000 to 24,000 to resident doctors and 10,000 to 13,000 to intern doctors. It is said that action should be taken against the medical college which does not provide the prescribed tabla facility. The committee has also suggested to the government to make the postgraduate level of medical education free. It has been pointed out that as the trainees studying MD, MS, MDS, DM, MCH provide full-time medical services, study fees cannot be charged even according to international practice.

It has been suggested that MD, MS resident doctors and intern doctors who have completed MBBS/BDS studies should not be put on duty for more than 24 hours. It is mentioned in the report that putting them on duty for 40 hours will seriously affect the health of doctors and patients. The report said to make provision for 24-hour duty only twice a week and weekly leave. It is mentioned in the report that