Factors influencing recruitment and retention of academic staff in the European Union

Academic medicine plays an essential role in the organization of health care in the European Union. Academic hospitals have been the mecca for advanced medicine. Academic hospitals differ from country to country. Some are public institutions and others are largely private hospitals. Financial pressures on patient care are now threatening research activities in the university hospitals and universities have a responsibility to safeguard the structure of clinical academic obstetrics and gynaecology. In many European teaching hospitals, little importance is placed on research and the academic posts are a mechanism for developing private practice