Large numbers of doctors and nurses are leaving recent EU members in eastern and central Europe. 2,500 Czech doctors have threatened to quit at the end of the year in a dispute over pay rates.There are currently 700 vacancies for doctors in the Czech Republic. In the countryside, the number of practicing doctors is sinking rapidly. Doctors are leaving for Germany and other western European nations where their earning possibilities are a lot better. But their departure leaves a gaping hole at home. Doctors from Belarus, Ukraine, Russia and India are moving to plug the gap. But the problems are simply being exported.