Healthcare professionals’ migration intentions in Türkiye: a qualitative study on implications for community health and health system sustainability

Brain drain has emerged as a major global challenge threatening the sustainability of healthcare systems and has profound implications for workforce stability, professional motivation, and the continuity of healthcare services. In Türkiye, increasing migration intentions among healthcare professionals raise concerns not only at the individual level but also for community health and equitable access to care. This study aimed to explore healthcare professionals’ perspectives on brain drain and their intentions to migrate. This qualitative study was conducted with healthcare professionals working in different provinces of Türkiye between January 11 and 26, 2025. An interpretative phenomenological approach was adopted, and data were collected through five online focus group interviews. Data analysis yielded five interrelated themes: Basic dynamics of migration tendency; professional, academic, and psychosocial reflections of migration; factors stopping migration; strategies to prevent migration; and metaphorical reflections of migration. Participants described migration as a multidimensional process shaped by systemic, occupational, and psychosocial factors, as well as by emotional attachments and ethical considerations related to remaining in the country. A substantial proportion of physicians, nurses, midwives, and dentists expressed an intention to migrate abroad. Migration intentions were primarily associated with low salaries, economic hardship, injustices within the health system, mobbing, violence in healthcare settings, professional devaluation, psychological exhaustion, concerns about their own and their children’s futures, and diminished quality of life. Although many healthcare professionals identified reasons to remain in Türkiye, migration was perceived to have significant individual, systemic, and community-level consequences, with potential implications for the sustainability and equity of healthcare services.