What is going to be interesting in our list of the most in demand doctor specialties in the Philippines is not just the types of medical jobs that are most sought after, but you will also find out something about healthcare in this country and the common diseases.
First, we turned to Mims for some information on the current state and it turned out to be quite specific. Namely, the Philippines are faced with a doctor shortage for several reasons. Abbreviation OFW stands for Overseas Filipino Workers, and you are bound to find many job offers regarding them. There is a huge number of Filipinos working overseas due to the higher incomes abroad and in this way supporting their families. They are of great significance to their homeland’s economy, but when it comes to the medical field, the fact that so many highly skilled Filipinos are leaving is rather unfortunate. The Philippine Medical Association reports that out of 130,000 licensed physicians in the country, only 70,000 are active in the profession. Around 60,000 of them are working overseas and curing the patients in countries with much better healthcare system than in the Philippines.
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Out of those 70,000 who are active and working in their home country, a large number is concentrated in the cities. That may not sound as a problem, but it actually is a big one. A large number of the population is living in villages or communities and usually there is one doctor per area that is huge. For instance, a doctor can be assigned for places that are 200 km in the radius of the healthcare center he or she is working in.
With such practice and salaries that are a bit above average, few young people opt to study medicine in the first place. As it is the case with many other countries, not so many are tempted to study something for five years with high scholarships. Those of them who do, however, usually have certain specialties in mind, so let us see how we got to our list.
Having already mentioned the significance of foreign employers, we took a look at Inquirer and confirmed the assumption that the highest paid OFWs are healthcare professionals. With such a huge percentage of Filipinos working abroad, this is definitely a major deciding factor when talking about doctor specialties. Should you wish to start your practice in the USA, look at our article on Most in Demand Medical Specialties in America. Mims was also our source of the average doctor’s salaries. In addition, we searched for the most common diseases to see what type of doctors are most urgently needed in the country. The information comes from ECompareMo. Even though they are one of the nations with the greatest longevity in the world, there is a shocking number of mortality due to certain diseases. Interestingly enough, the wishes of foreign employers and most urgent cases in the Philippines often overlapped. On occasions when it wasn’t the case, we gave a slight advantage to the medicine field which is lacking professionals in the Philippines. Therefore, our list comprises doctor specialties which are most popular with Filipino doctors, and by them we mean those who are deciding to remain in the country and those who are thinking about working abroad. Both types of doctors-to-be are going to find this list extremely useful when deliberating their future career.
Let us see which are the 10 most in demand doctor specialties in the Philippines based on both the Filipinos’ needs and preferences.
