Over 36,000 Lady Doctors Not Practicing: Gallup

News Desk

Islamabad: Pakistan is facing an acute shortage of qualified doctors, with over 36,000 female doctors either unemployed or opting out of the labour force for multiple reasons.

A nationwide study by Gallup Pakistan and PRIDE has revealed that nearly 35 percent of women doctors are unemployed in Pakistan.

Based on the Labour Force Survey 2020–2021 research, the survey analysed data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on the labour market, particularly for female medical graduates.

The survey collected data from 99,900 households across Pakistan and included district-level results for the first time.

The survey reveals that there are 14974 women medical graduates in Pakistan. Out of whom, 68,209 (65 percent) are working in various private and public medical centres.

However, 15,619 women doctors (14.9 percent) are unemployed in the country, while 21,146 women (which is 20.1 per cent of the total number) are not part of the labour force.

According to the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), Pakistan has produced nearly 2 million doctors since 1947, half of whom are women.

Statistics from the Bureau of Immigration show that since 1970, about 30,000 doctors have left Pakistan, and on average, about 1,000 Pakistani doctors settle abroad every year.

The majority of these doctors studied at public universities, where the government subsidises their education expenses. An average private medical university charges students more than Rs5 million, while government medical universities offer the same education for less than Rs1 million.

The survey shows that taxpayer’ money is wasted because one out of every three female doctors are not working. For this reason, Rs200 billion spent on about 50,000 female doctors has gone in vain, stated report.

PRIDE Representative Dr Shahid Naeem said that the majority of female medical graduates who are not part of the labour force are married. The results of the survey reflect the trend of ‘doctor brides’, which is very common in Pakistan.

Many families prefer to give medical education to their daughters as it increases their chances of finding a suitable match for marriage, Dr Naeem added.

About 28 percent of medical graduates live in rural areas and 72 percent in urban areas, the survey found.

In rural areas, 52 percent of medical graduates are serving in practical life and 31 percent are unemployed. In rural areas, the proportion of students preferring to stay out of the labour force is 17 percent, which is lower than the national average of 20 percent.

Statistics from the Urban Centre show that about 70 percent of graduates are employed, while less than 9 percent are unemployed. The percentage of medical graduates who choose to stay out of the labour force in urban areas of Pakistan is over 21 percent.

A regional comparison shows that employment opportunities for female graduates are significantly higher, at 78 percent in urban areas compared to 22 percent in rural areas.

In contrast, the proportion of unemployed is significantly higher in rural areas (57 percent) compared to 43 percent in urban areas, reported survey.

Among these medical graduates who are not part of the labour force, about 76 percent are married. In terms of age, 54 percent of female medical graduates are between 25 and 34 years of age.

The female medical graduates included in the survey are MBBS, BDS, MS/MSc, MPhil, or PhD degree holders in any field of medicine.