Mobility of Students from Arab Countries and Internationalization of Higher Education with Application to Medical Studies

Abstract With the international liberalization of services, both education and medical care are becoming global. Medical education is consequently subject to changes in education and to reforms taking place in the health systems. The Arab world is not insulated from these international trends. The mobility of students from this part of the world accounts for the constraints related to accessing medical education in the countries of origin but also for the benefits provided by studying abroad. The current paper describes the costs and benefits related to medical education and to the incentives related to the mobility of students. It shows that while the medical educational system is changing in the Arab world, mobility of students is increasingly attractive as larger benefits are expected while studying abroad.