Many students think that going abroad to work or volunteer in a clinic or hospital will make them more competitive applicants for their particular Health Professions school. While this may give the student an amazing experience and may help during the admissions process, some students find themselves in situations that they may not feel comfortable with.
This is important because there are issues that arise when a student is doing something that they may not be qualified to do. These include:
- potential for harm done to the student
- potential for harm to the patient
- legal issues with local authorities
- damage to reputation of institutions, both home and host
- putting a student's acceptance to health professional programs at risk
It is important to consider ethical risks and opportunities when thinking about having a health experience abroad. A student must be able to recognize their limitations, and must be aware of their compentence and training. If they aren't trained to pull teeth in the U.S., then they shouldn't be pulling teeth abroad. Most legitimate programs set the expectation of the student as a learner, not a trained individual. The student must know when to say "no thank you".
Questions to ask when evaluating international opportunities:
- What is the expected role of the student during the experience?
- Who is organizing the opportunity?
- How long have they been involved in the community/location?
- Is the local community being compensated or otherwise remunerated for time
- and efforts supporting the opportunity?
- Is there a religious, governmental, or other affiliation of/relationship
- facilitating activities?
- What type of safety procedures, insurance, and incident response is in place?
- What type of preparation, in country support, and post-experience debriefing is provided?
- If students are paying a fee, is the use of the fees transparent, is their appropriate fiduciary practices by the organization?
- Does the organization/effort have an ethical code of conduct or other foundation? Does the student agree with it?
See the following articles for more information:
Ethics and Best Practice Guidelines for Training Experiences in Global Health: https://www.aamc.org/download/181690/data/guidelinesforstudentsprovidingpatientcare.pdf
Guidelines for Premedical and Medical Students Providing Patient Care During Clinical Experiences Abroad: http://www.ajtmh.org/content/83/6/1178.long
