Recruiting foreign-trained professionals

Truly democratic countries recognize the right of their citizens to seek their fortune wherever they wish. However, in most instances, health care professionals are educated at great expense to their country of origin. One way of minimizing the negative effect of brain drain would be to require health care professionals who move to another country to reimburse their country of origin the amount by which their education was subsidized by the state. Health care professionals who work in their country's public health care system before leaving could be given credit for each year worked; after a decade or so their subsidy balance would be zero.

Requiring health care professionals to reimburse their country of origin for their education would allow that country to train more professionals; in effect, the country would become an educational resource for the world. Countries such as Canada that receive foreign-trained professionals could refuse entry to anyone who could not provide proof of payment. Canada would also benefit from such a system in that it would be reimbursed by Canadian-trained professionals who move elsewhere.