Virtual Mentor. July 2009

This month in Virtual Mentor

Medicine in the Era of Globalization

Globalization means that ideas, people, resources—and germs—now move unfettered from country to country with great speed. On balance, this is good news for the health of populations around the world. But globalization also raises ethical questions about the conduct of clinical research in developing countries, use of clinics abroad to train U.S. medical students, lack of essential medicines by many who need them, and migration of doctors from low-income countries to those with higher standards of living. VM ’s July contributors—many with international medical experience—take up these questions and more.

Exploring Physician Responsibilities to the Global Community Tanyaporn Wansom, MD, MPP Contributors to this issue of Virtual Mentor work and study in Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Thailand, Egypt, Bangladesh, and Australia.

Should Medical Education Fight International Brain Drain? Scott Barnhart, MD, MPH There are “push” factors such as poor working conditions, substandard facilities, unsafe conditions, and low income that discourage health professionals trained in Indian medical schools from staying in country.

Patents, Pricing, and Access to Essential Medicines in Developing Countries Brook K. Baker, JD A major contributor to the lack of medicines in developing countries is an intellectual property regime that allows proprietary drug companies with intellectual property monopolies to charge high prices and maximize profit.

Michael Furnell’s Crusade against the “Local Influences” Theory of Cholera Sheldon Watts, PhD A firm believer in professional responsibility, Furnell was in deep water from the first day he took over as sanitary commissioner of Madras and its 30 million inhabitants in May 1880.

Upcoming Issues

• August Problematizing the Principle of Autonomy
• September Ethical Questions in Genetic Testing
• October Religion, Patients, and Medical Ethics
• November Medical Education Reform