The exact statistics on the migration of Iranian doctors are not publicly announced; however, the trend of healthcare staff migrating is on the rise, with the main destinations being Oman and other Arab countries.
Ramezan Sharif, the spokesperson for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), recently described the statistics on doctor migration as a “media attack against the Islamic Republic.”
The issue of doctor and healthcare staff migration was declared a “crisis” in 2022 when Mohammad Raeiszadeh, the head of the Iranian Medical Council, stated that over 4,027 doctors had requested “Good Standing” certificates for migration the previous year.
At that time, he expressed concern that if this trend continued, Iran would either have to import foreign doctors or go to neighboring countries for even simple surgeries.
Dissemination of Information or Enemy Psychological Warfare?
In March 2024, the regime’s official news agency, IRNA, citing leaked information from the Medical Council, reported that the number of its members who had obtained Good Standing certificates for migration had increased from 750 in 2018 to over 6,000 in 2022.
Officials from the Nursing Council have also stated that approximately 3,000 nurses obtain Good Standing certificates annually for migration.
Last year, the Donya-e-Eqtesad newspaper reported that the latest official statistics on doctor migration were from 2019, when 3,000 migrations were recorded. At the same time, Dr. Reza Laripour, spokesperson for the National Medical Council, estimated the number of departures to be double this figure. The newspaper also quoted an “informed source” stating that “around 5,000 doctors migrated in 2021.” Considering the claim that doctor migration figures have doubled, it can be said that around 10,000 doctors left Iran in 2022.
To this crisis, the suicides of doctors must also be added; factors that have already cast a gray shadow over the future of the country’s healthcare system.
With the increasing desire to migrate in Iran, migration agencies have developed a specialized focus, with some specifically working in the field of doctor and healthcare staff migration. Some agencies also secure job opportunities for their clients. According to one such agency, Canada, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates are among the best destinations for healthcare staff migration.
In February 2024, the Etemad newspaper, quoting an “informed source” in the National Medical Council, wrote that by the first half of the year, the number of doctors applying for CGS (Certificate of Good Standing – professional and scientific competency) had increased by about 200% compared to 2018. In 2021, over 4,000 doctors, in 2022 over 6,000 doctors, and in the first half of 2023, over 3,000 doctors received CGS certificates, with a prediction that the total number of certificates issued would reach 10,000 by the end of the year.
Confidential Seal on Doctor Migration Records
The statistics on doctor migration are not announced precisely and are confidential; therefore, the media have approximate figures, and publishing them is considered “blackening” by the government.
Avaz Heidarpour, an anesthesiologist and former parliament member, described the doctor migration situation as “horrific” in October 2023, stating: “Every year, 10,000 people from the medical staff migrate from the country.”
Another concern about the migration and departure of doctors is the emptying of universities for teaching and the disruption of the knowledge and experience transfer cycle. Meanwhile, the medical community is experiencing the “forced evacuation” of universities from professors who disagree with the government.
Reza Malekzadeh, a faculty member at Tehran University of Medical Sciences who was forcibly retired, announced in March 2024 that about 40 faculty members of this university had been dismissed or retired over the past two years. Many professors have stated that the reasons for these dismissals or
