Making sense of transitions: Identity construction of migrant doctors in Chile and Hong Kong

Abstract

Mostly due to socioeconomic factors, professional mobility in healthcare has been on the increase in the last few decades. Improved socioeconomic conditions as a result of a move overseas, however, do not come without hurdles, such as a typically required period of extensive re-training or internship in a new country followed by stringent professional exams, and social and cultural adaptation to a new working and living environment. Subjectivities are at the heart of transition and adaptation processes as migrant doctors strive to find (if possible) their place within the new professional community. Focusing on discourses of ‘old’ and ‘new’ selves, Focusing on discourses of ‘old’ and ‘new’ selves, we explore how migrant doctors re-conceptualize and re-negotiate their identities as a way to make sense of the transition. We suggest that the new identity orientations reflect these doctors’ adaptation efforts. To that end, we draw on the data from semi-structured interviews from an on-going collaborative project on migrant doctors who have received their professional training in one country, and relocated to another country (Hong Kong or Chile) afterwards. Drawing on the notion of accounts that refers to understanding language use as action-oriented, situated and strategic, we explore migrant doctors’ identity construction as we examine how these migrant medical professionals reflect on the intersections of healthcare systems, cultures and practices, and the challenges that the transitions overseas have brought to them. We discuss the importance of identity processes in making sense of the new intercultural experiences for these migrant doctors and reflect on the extent to which such identity processes become part of acculturation processes. To conclude, we discuss how the localized transitions of individuals contribute to and are a part of global transitioning of healthcare service deliveries.