Virtual Mentor. March 2010

This month in Virtual Mentor

Global Health Ethics in Practice

Interest in global service learning opportunities is thriving, as medicine seeks to improve its understanding of the economic, social, cultural, and environmental determinants of disease and illness. The desire to help those in need around the world is laudable, and global health experiences have unquestionable value for medical students and trainees; yet the ethical challenges and cultural impact of serving and learning from the most vulnerable populations warrant close examination. In this issue of Virtual Mentor, authors from U.S. medical schools and their collaborating institutions abroad offer guidelines for establishing mutually beneficial, culturally sensitive, sustainable partnerships.

Global Health Ethics at Home and Abroad Jennifer L. Weinberg

One important motivator for students and clinicians who pursue global health experiences is a “duty to care.”

With So Much Need, Where Do I Serve? Commentary by Cynthia Haq, MD, Heather Lukolyo, MHS, Lauren K. Graber, Mei Elansary, MPhil, Kaveh Khoshnood, PhD, and Asghar Rastegar, MD The skills students gain through global health experiences can also be acquired in culturally diverse and impoverished regions of the U.S.

Liability Considerations for Physician Volunteers in the U.S. Lisa Benrud, PhD, JD, Jacqueline Darrah, JD, MA, and Alison Johnson, RN, MBA Physicians who volunteer typically need to obtain their own insurance to cover volunteer activities that fall outside federal or state immunity or protection.

Is International Trade Impacting Health? Challenges for This Decade Josh Ruxin, PhD, MPH International trade policies affect the distribution of life-saving medicine, the food market, and the migration of medical personnel from developing countries.

Upcoming Issues

April Medical Ethics Confronts Obesity
May Ethics of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
June Time and Resource Constraints in the Emergency Room
July Pediatric Palliative Care

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