I recently met up with a Portuguese friend who works as a researcher and doctor in New York. She has an immense passion for Brazil and told me she would love to work there if she gets the opportunity to. Portuguese media have recently been flooded with reports that Brazil is considering recruiting doctors from […]
Category: Tiago Villanueva
Tiago Villanueva: The worrying future for junior doctors in Portugal
The future of junior doctors’s careers in Portugal has recently been all over national television. It comes just a few weeks after I blogged about the potential brain drain of doctors in Portugal. It has all come to head because of a recent conference organised by the “Association of Junior Doctors” and the Faculty of […]
Tiago Villanueva: Is there going to be a brain drain of doctors in Portugal?
I have already been invited twice this year to give a talk about emigration of doctors out of Portugal. I find this a sign of the difficult times we’re going through in Portugal. Doctors, like every citizen, have been subject to relentless austerity measures and to progressive impoverishment. But we’re not currently seeing doctors leaving […]
Tiago Villanueva: The difference between a job and a fulfilling career
A few days ago I was having dinner with a group of close friends who are all doctors, and working in the Portuguese public healthcare sector. One of the topics of conversation was the need everyone felt to carry out additional work in the private sector just to earn a decent income at the end […]
Tiago Villanueva: Poverty and hunger in Portugal
Some time ago a patient told me that he needed to borrow money from a neighbour to buy a train ticket to come to his appointment at the practice. At the same time, this patient told me about the scarcity of food at home, and how it was a constant struggle to feed his daughter. […]
Tiago Villanueva: Is there an end in sight for austerity?
I’ve blogged before about the impact of austerity on healthcare, mainly on the hard hit Portuguese healthcare system. And just when I thought things have already gone too far, new developments over the last few days have cast even more dark clouds over the healthcare system, and have spread additional apprehension and outrage in the […]
Tiago Villanueva: How does the financial crisis affect demand for health services?
The unemployment rate in Portugal is at an all time high of 16,3%, and 2013 is looking even bleaker, due to announced tax hikes that will see people’s net income squeezed even further. As a locum doctor, my hourly rates have dropped by about 20% compared to one year ago, and sadly, I am expecting […]
Tiago Villanueva: What’s new in European primary care research?
The University of Antwerp, Belgium, recently hosted the 75th meeting of the European General Practice Research Network. Paul Van Royen, dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Antwerp spoke about the challenges for primary care research, namely innovation, transferability, interprofessionalism, social impact, and partnership. In terms of innovation, he […]
Tiago Villanueva: Can doctors become “transnational” professionals?
A recent BBC article about the globalisation of work and people, written by Lynda Gratton, professor of management practice, argues that there will be more professionals called “transnationals,” as the job and education market become increasingly globalised. Gratton defines a transnational as a “worldwide group of people who are able to relocate at any time, […]
Tiago Villanueva: Time for an overhaul of reproductive health in the Philippines
Population control in the developing world is a major public health issue, as large families and overcrowding perpetuate cycles of poverty. The dire situation in the Philippines is considerably overlooked, even though it is extremely serious and the country has one of the highest birth rates outside Africa. The Philippines is the 12th most populated […]