Healthy, safe and effective international medical student electives: a systematic review and recommendations for program coordinators

Abstract

Background Thousands of medical students undertake international medical electives each year. These students face potentially substantial health and safety risks as well as educational and ethical challenges and therefore should undertake their electives within well-structured and coordinated programs. Methods We conducted a qualitative systematic review based on a pre-determined protocol. Relevant publications and guidelines relating to international medical electives were identified through a review of the literature using on-line search engines, principally PubMed. We then conducted a systematic qualitative synthesis to extract relevant publications. Finally, the literature was organized according to themes, with the aim of developing a structured set of Recommendations for Implementation for program coordinators. Results A wide range of important issues were identified which were categorized into seven themes upon which recommendations were made principally for the benefit of program coordinators: Responsibilities; General policies; Travel advisories; Occupational risk assessment; Funding & finances, Pre-departure training programs; and Post-return debriefing and screening. Conclusions Recommendations for program coordinators on the health and safety of medical students while on international medical electives have been sourced from existing guidelines and relevant publications. There was considerable consensus from the literature and as such these synthesised recommendations could form the basis for internationally accepted standards for elective placement program coordinators. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s40794-019-0081-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Infectious disease symptoms and microbial carriage among French medical students travelling abroad: A prospective study

“…This has been extensively described, by example, among French Hajj pilgrim travelling to Mecca, Saudi Arabia [2,3]. A significant proportion of medical students from high-income countries participate in usually self-organised, but also arrange through faculty partnership or commercial volunteer placement organizations, clinical electives abroad -also known as international medical electives or global health electives [4]. Electives typically last between one and three months.…”

“…Destination may be in developed countries, but low and middle-income countries are becoming popular destinations. International medical electives are generally clinical immersion experiences, but younger medical students may also participate to humanitarian missions unrelated to clinical activities [4]. In addition to the clinical placements themselves, many students add cultural side trips and wilderness or other adventures to their itineraries [4].…”

“…International medical electives are generally clinical immersion experiences, but younger medical students may also participate to humanitarian missions unrelated to clinical activities [4]. In addition to the clinical placements themselves, many students add cultural side trips and wilderness or other adventures to their itineraries [4]. Health risks for medical students while on electives abroad are a subject which concerns the medical profession.…”

A Global Health Capstone: An Innovative Educational Approach in a Competency-Based Curriculum for Medical Students

“…[12][13][14] Many programs involve international electives or service-learning experiences, and best practice approaches have been proposed to help students in short-term global health experiences build skills in cross-cultural effectiveness, capacity building, and collaboration while addressing the needs of host communities and partners. [15][16][17][18] Although there are some published descriptions of global health capstones for pharmacy and bioengineering students, there are no known published descriptions of global health capstones as part of an educational curriculum for medical students. 19,20 The Global Medicine (GMED) Program is a longitudinal four-year track for select medical students that began in 2012, in response to increased interest in global health at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine (UICOM).…”

A Global Health Capstone: An Innovative Educational Approach in a Global Health Competency-Based Curriculum

“…[12][13][14] Many programs involve international electives or service-learning experiences, and best practice approaches have been proposed to help students in short-term global health experiences build skills in cross-cultural effectiveness, capacity building, and collaboration while addressing the needs of host communities and partners. [15][16][17][18] Part of the challenge of teaching global health is designing educational methods that address competencies that include skills building and attitude formation. 4 Particularly in resource-limited settings involving different cultures, political climates, and power dynamics, competencies required of effective global practitioners extend far beyond clinical knowledge and include the effective practice of cultural humility, inter-professional collaboration, ethical conduct, and promotion of health equity.…”