🩺 Staying or Leaving: A Doctor’s Reflection in a Time of Exodus 🇱🇰✈️

By Dr. Shane Halpe | The Family Doctor Blog

In clinics and corridors across Sri Lanka, a single question echoes more than any other:
“When are you leaving?”

It’s not about leaving for the day. It’s about leaving the country—for good. The reality is sobering. Over 10,000 doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals left Sri Lanka last year alone, heading to the UK, Australia, the Middle East, or beyond. The result? Public hospitals are overwhelmed. Doctors are burning out. And yet, the exodus continues—forming a vicious cycle that’s hard to break.

📉 A System Under Strain

As someone still serving in the public system, I see this daily. Wards are packed. Clinics overflow. Patients wait for hours. The load on those who stay behind keeps growing, pushing many to the edge. Burnout isn’t theoretical—it’s real, personal, and creeping into every consultation room.

Government leaders offer mixed messages: On one hand, they speak optimistically at global forums. On the other, they assure us “there are enough doctors” or announce new hospitals in rural areas—plans that sound good on paper, but seem out of step with the shrinking workforce.

🌍 “When Are You Going?”

As a Senior Registrar in Family Medicine, currently awaiting foreign training, I too hear the familiar questions:

“Where will you do your training?”
“Are you leaving for good?”
“Why stay back when there’s no future here?”
“Wouldn’t your children be better off abroad?”

It’s tempting. The idea of a more stable income, a predictable future, a comfortable lifestyle for my family—all are powerful draws.

Yet… something in me hesitates.

🙏 A Bible Study, A Miracle, A Reminder

That hesitation deepened during a recent evening spent with a small group of Christian doctors and medical students. We had gathered for prayer and discussion. The topic? Career decisions and the desire to migrate.

We opened to a well-known passage: The Feeding of the Five Thousand (Matthew 14:13–21). A miracle I’d heard countless times—but this time, it struck a different chord.

“They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
(Matthew 14:16)

The disciples had just returned from their own missions—tired, hungry, seeking rest. Yet, the crowd followed them, pressing in with needs and illnesses. Exhausted, the disciples asked Jesus to send them away. But Jesus, filled with compassion, responded differently. He saw the people. He felt their pain. And He chose to stay and serve.

With only five loaves and two fish, the disciples saw scarcity. Jesus saw abundance.

🏥 Modern Echoes in Ancient Words

Reading that story again, I saw ourselves. The doctors, nurses, and medical officers working in rural hospitals. The interns stretched beyond limits. The specialists juggling too much with too little. We are the disciples—saying:

“It’s too late now.”
“This is a remote place.”
“We don’t have enough.”

And Jesus still replies:
“You give them something to eat.”

We often focus on the miracle of multiplication. But what struck me this time was the compassion that moved Jesus to act. The same compassion we are called to reflect.

🇱🇰 What Do We Have?

We may not have high salaries or world-class infrastructure. But what do we have?

We have freedom.
We have natural beauty.
We have communities rich in resilience and heart.
We have people—our people—waiting to be healed.

Maybe our wants have outgrown our means. Maybe simple living has fallen out of fashion. But as I reflected that evening, one question surfaced:

Is it really about what we lack—or is it about what we’ve lost sight of?

❤️ I Stay Because of Compassion

In the end, it’s not an economic calculation that keeps me here. It’s a calling.
A pull that’s deeper than convenience.

Yes, I will pursue my foreign training. But not to escape.
Yes, I will go abroad. But I also intend to return.
Because our five thousand are still waiting.
And they are ours.

“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”
(Mark 8:36)

So I stay. I serve.
Not because it’s easy.
But because compassion still compels me.

📝 If this reflection resonated with you—or if you’re a fellow health professional navigating similar questions—feel free to reach out or share your thoughts. Let’s journey together, with purpose.

Shane Halpe - The Family Doctor

Tuesday, July 29, 2025