The Migration of Filipino Healthcare Professionals: A Structured Literature Review on Workforce Mobility and Healthcare Sustainability
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Systematic Review
Abstract: The migration of Filipino healthcare professionals (FHP) has become a major globalworkforce issue with significant implications for healthcare sustainability, workforce equity,and health system resilience in the Philippines. This structured literature review criticallyexamined the drivers, experiences, and implications of healthcare migration. Relevantliterature published from January 2019 to May 2026 was systematically identified andsynthesized from peer-reviewed journals, institutional reports, and international healthpublications. The findings indicate that economic opportunity, professional advancement,global labor mobility, and increasing international demand for healthcare workers remainmajor drivers of migration. However, migration also reflects deeper structural issues withinthe Philippine healthcare system, including inadequate compensation, workforcedissatisfaction, limited retention mechanisms, and professional inequities. The reviewfurther highlights the professional, cultural, and psychosocial challenges experienced byFHP, including workplace integration difficulties, discrimination, burnout, and adaptationto foreign healthcare systems. While migration may provide economic and professionalbenefits, continued outward mobility contributes to workforce attrition and increasingpressure on the domestic healthcare sector. The study emphasizes the necessity of evidence-informed workforce governance that prioritizes retention strategies, ethical recruitment,professional support systems, and long-term healthcare workforce sustainability. Futureresearch should adopt profession-specific and longitudinal approaches to better understandmigration trajectories and workforce outcomes among FHP.
Authors: Emil Arca, John Estacio, Cristina Estacio
Institutions: Philippine Women's University, Our Lady of Fatima University
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7203469648