DefinePK

Abstract

Amidst persistent healthcare disparities in Pakistan, a growing misperception frames doctor unemployment as the consequence of an oversupplied workforce. However, closer inspection reveals a more intricate reality: Pakistan continues to fall below international benchmarks, with a physician-to-population ratio that fails to meet the World Health Organization's baseline standard. This shortfall is compounded by systemic inefficiencies—most notably, the geographic centralization of healthcare facilities in urban centers and the premature exit of many female graduates from the medical pathway due to entrenched social expectations. These factors combine to produce an underutilized pool of trained professionals, paradoxically coexisting with underserved populations and unstaffed medical infrastructure.
Breaking each of these factors down individually, first you target the population of non-practicing medical graduates, specifically the women. A significant portion of trained female physicians in Pakistan never enter clinical practice—a pattern deeply rooted in societal expectations, marriage pressures, and the undervaluing of long-term female workforce participation (1). A rarely recognized con of such results leads to the category of women, truly aiming for a future full of ambition as doctors, being discouraged due to the so-called saturation and lack of employment opportunities.