1205 



Educational investment losses to the LDCs resulting from emi- 

 grating physicians continue to be heavy. The most recent NSF data 

 on the admission of immigrant physicians and surgeons indicate that 

 5,213 entered the United States from all LDCs in the fiscal 

 year 1971. (See Table 23.) The total figure represents 52 from Greece; 

 542 from Latin America ; 4,380 from Asia ; 222 from Africa ; and 17 

 from other areas of the world. Excluded from these figures were im- 

 migrant M.D.s from what appeared to be the developed areas of West- 

 ern and Eastern Europe and Canada. By taking Dr. Kidd's estimate 

 of $20,000 per person, the total educational cost to the LDCs for 1971, 

 again assuming that the immigrants remain as permanent residents, is 

 $104,260,000. The cost of Latin America's 542 M.D.s comes to an esti- 

 mated $10,840,000. The 4,380 M.D.s entering from Asia cost an esti- 

 mated $87,600,000. India's 1,057 entering physicians cost $21,140,000; 

 Korea's 999 cost $19,980,000; and the Philippines' 1,040 cost an esti- 

 mated $20,800,000. And the cost of Africa's 222 entering physicians 

 comes to $4,440,000. 



In the fiscal year 1972, entering immigrant physicians and surgeons 

 increased in number to 6,462, representing an estimated educational in- 

 vestment loss of $129,240,000. (See Table 24.) Latin America's 523 im- 

 migrant M.D.s represents a loss of $10,460,000. Asia's 5,558 entering 

 M.D.s represents an estimated loss of $111,160,000. India incurred a 

 loss of $36,040,000 in educational investment for its entering 1,802 

 physicians. The cost to Korea of its entering 810 M.D.s amounted to 

 $16,200,000. The 260 M.D.s from Pakistan cost an estimated $5,200,000. 

 The Philippines incurred a loss of $16,620,000 in educational costs for 

 its 831 entering M.D.s. And Africa's 259 immigrating M.D.s came to a 

 $5,180,000 estimated educational loss. 



The combined estimated educational cost to the LDCs for the fiscal 

 years 1971 and 1972 is substantial : the total of 11,675 physicians and 

 surgeons cost an estimated $233,500,000. Asia carried the major burden 

 of cost with an estiniated $198,760,000 for 10,938 incoming M.D.s. 

 India, the largest individual contributor, among all nations, suffered 

 an estimated $57,180,000 loss in educational investment costs from its 

 2,859 M.D.s immigrating to the United States. 



These estimates of educational costs to the LDCs for training FMGs 

 would be substantially higher if costs in primary and secondary edu- 

 cation and undergraduate training were included in the computation. 



Qualifying Aspects and Perceptions of LDCs'' Investment Loss. — 

 Estimates of investment costs and losses to the LDCs unavoidably lack 

 precision. Some of the immigrant professionals entering the United 

 States and recorded in the above NSF statistics may not establish per- 

 manent residency, and hence will not constitute a permanent invest- 

 ment loss in education. The estimate of $20,000 in education cost per 

 individual may also be excessive for some areas of the world; yet if 

 total education costs, including primary, secondary, undergraduate, 

 and graduate schools, are taken into account, it may be too low, as 

 would certainly be the case for the United States. (A recent report by 

 the Association of American Medical Schools estimates that it costs 

 between $16,300 to $26,400 a year to educate a medical student in the 

 United States ; on the average the cost to the student is about $2,200 



