The migration of venezuelan dentists to Colombia and Uruguay. A look at their trajectories and lifestyles

Abstract

Objectives: To reconstruct the experiences of migration trajectories in relation to the lifestyles of Venezuelan dentists living in Colombia and Uruguay between 2010 and 2025.

Methodology: Research using a qualitative approach and a phenomenological method. Twelve dentists who migrated from Venezuela and work in Colombia and Uruguay will be recruited for convenience. Individual migration trajectories will be investigated using two techniques: life history, reconstructed through in-depth interviews with each participant, which seeks to explore aspects that shape their lifestyles (personal, family, educational, and work) in relation to the migration process. Two focus groups will then be held (one in each country) based on the preliminary findings. The participants' migration trajectories will be explored in order to identify commonalities and divergences. The analysis will be conducted through open, axial, and analytical coding of the information, followed by triangulation of the data among informants and using techniques that allow for the identification of milestones in migration trajectories and their relationship to lifestyles.

Expected Outcomes: A publication that summarizes the individual migration trajectories of Venezuelan dentists, highlighting milestones, convergences, and divergences between experiences and their relationship to lifestyles. This constitutes a first contribution to broadening the understanding of the south-south migration phenomenon in dentistry, complemented by studies that investigate the structural conditions that have determined this phenomenon in recent years in our region.