Pre-departure Training for Healthcare Students Going Abroad: Impact on Preparedness

Abstract

Background:Many medical and nursing schools offer opportunities for students to participate in global health experiences abroad, but little is known about the efficacy of pre-departure training in preparing students for these experiences.Objectives:The primary aim was to identify characteristics of pre-departure training associated with participants’ reporting a high level of preparedness for their global health experiences. Secondary objectives included identifying students’ preferred subjects of study and teaching modalities for pre-departure training.Methods:A questionnaire was distributed to all medical and nursing students at our institution from 2013 to 2015. Questions addressed prior global health experiences and pre-departure training, preferences for pre-departure training, and demographic information.Findings:Of 517 respondents, 55% reported having a prior global health experience abroad, 77% of whom felt prepared for their experience. Fifty-three percent received pre-departure training. Simply receiving pre-departure training was not associated with perceived preparedness, but pre-departure training in the following learning domains was: travel safety, personal health, clinical skills, cultural awareness, and leadership. Perceiving pre-departure training as useful was also independently associated with self-reported preparedness. Students’ preferred instruction methods included discussion, lecture, and simulation, and their most desired subjects of study were travel safety (81%), cultural skills (87%), and personal health (82%).Conclusions:Incorporating travel safety, personal health, clinical skills, cultural awareness, and/or leadership into pre-departure training may increase students’ preparedness for global health experiences. Student perceptions of the usefulness of pre-departure training is also associated with self-reported preparedness, suggesting a possible “buy-in” effect.

Pre-departure and Post-elective Requirements for Global Health Electives: Survey of Canadian Royal College Emergency Medicine Programs

“…Previous surveys of those hosting trainees on GH electives report that less than 60% were appropriately prepared [ 12 ], with some reporting that only 20% were well prepared [ 1 ], indicating that residents’ perceptions of their preparedness may not match host expectations. A survey of medical and nursing students in the United States showed that participation in pre-departure training was not associated with perceived preparedness unless it focused specifically on travel safety, personal health, cultural awareness, clinical and leadership skills [ 7 ]. The majority of EM residents in our survey felt key areas to be covered in pre-departure training included safety and security, cultural sensitivity, practice in low-resource settings, scope of practice, support during elective, personal health, and ethics.…”

“…Pre-departure training prior to GH electives is recommended by both the Canadian Federation of Medical Students (CFMS) and Resident Doctors of Canada (RDoC) [ 7 - 8 ]. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education has recently mandated pre-departure training as part of its accreditation standards [ 9 ].…”

Preparation for nursing student placements abroad and in Canada's northern communities: a secondary analysis

“…Lastly, Kironji et al (2018) utilized a questionnaire sent to 517 medical and nursing students to identify characteristics of pre-departure training that provided high levels of preparedness for their global health experiences. The authors were able to identify specific learning domains that influenced students' preparedness and preferred pedagogy format.…”

Medical students from German-speaking countries on abroad electives in Africa: destinations, motivations, trends and ethical dilemmas

“…Several studies have emphasized the potential (international) medical electives have to improve the participants' knowledge, skills, and attitudes [6], with students often citing the desire to improve their clinical examination skills and the opportunity to travel and to gain insights into a different cultural and clinical climate as motivation for choosing foreign destinations [1,6]. Moreover, in light of improved clinical examination skills [7], students travelling abroad for electives in lowand middle-income countries generally reported less dependency on technology as well as improved communication skills and a better understanding of infectious and tropical diseases [8][9][10][11][12].…”