1164 



only a small part of the problem, though gearing training to develop- 

 ment would help. But the problem itself derives from qualitative dis- 

 parities in civilizations. 



What happens is that the student in science, technology, or medi- 

 cine coming to the United States acquires some kinds of knowledge 

 that is largely nontransferable to his own country. And the further 

 he advances in education the wider the nontransferability gap be- 

 comes. At some point in the process the student exceeds in education 

 and training the practical needs of his country : either he cannot be 

 absorbed into the economy at the level for which he has been trained, 

 or there is no place for his specialized knowledge. As a result he 

 becomes a frustrated, marginal professional whose only escape is to 

 return to America, if he has gone home, or never to leave in the first 

 place. 



What often occurs was described by Iran's Under Secretary for Vo- 

 cational and Technical Training : "We have been sending our students 

 with great hope to highly industrialized countries to make them 

 middle-level technicians. But unfortunately even these boys return 

 with Ph. D. degrees which they cannot use." ^^^ And it might be added 

 that probably many of "these boys" have taken the option of im- 

 migrating to the United States. 



Dr. Amador Muriel, former physics instructor at the University of 

 the Philippines and in 1970 a research associate with NASA's Insti- 

 tute for Space Studies, gave the following case history that illustrates 

 the point more graphically : 



Eduardo Padlan is a young promising crystallographer who got his doctorate 

 from Johns Hoplcins University in 1968. He is now back at Johns Hopkins, 

 continuing his researcli in crystallography after spending one disappointing 

 year in the Philippines. Padlan typifies young Filipino phy.sicists who come to 

 the United States to train. All are eager to go back. Some return home, then 

 come back to the United States. . . . ^* 



Medicine seems to be the most visible field for mismatch. The 

 LDCs and advanced countries have two different sets of health prob- 

 lems: the former focuses on infectious disease, rural poverty, pre- 

 ventive care, and a youthful population; the latter on chronic dis- 

 sease, urban affluence, specialized treatment, and problems of the 

 aged. The LDC needs the general practitioner and public health pro- 

 fessional; the advanced countries produce specialized physicians and 

 a health care system stressing specialized forms of treatment. Medical 

 education in the United States is typically urbanized, specialized, and 

 hospital-based. It is designed to serve the needs of industrial America, 

 not underdeveloped Asia, Africa, or Latin America. According to 

 Dr. Kelley West, the LDCs need physicians who can design and 

 supervise programs stressing preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic 

 measures for communities. Bacterial, parasitic, and nutritional dis- 

 €ases have the greatest significance in developing countries. How- 

 ever, foreign students in American medical schools will most likely 

 not learn about the treatment of malaria, malnutrition, amoebiasis, 

 schistosomiasis, and leprosy; but may well learn to diagnose and 



^^ Quoted in Henderson op. cit., p. 57. 



352 Muriel, op. clt., p. 08. Nurl Eren cites the case of Korean students: "Of the 390 

 Koreans who earned doctorate degrees In the United States, only sixty-four have returned. 

 Many of them remained because there was no outlet for the employment of their advanced 

 training at home." (Eren, op. cit, p. 12.) 



