It’s far easier to build an operating theater in a rural area than to staff it. One sensible response is to start training programs in Africa that produce many more health care professionals, but in two- or three-year programs that don’t grant MDs that allow the graduates to find jobs abroad. Africa would be better off graduating fewer doctors if the trade-off were that more health professionals would be forced to remain in their home countries. The purpose of medical training isn’t to fuel emigration but to address health needs at home.
