Global Health in Medical Education: A Call for More Training and Opportunities

TLDR

Global migration and trade have heightened worldwide concern over communicable diseases, prompting a need for physicians in developed countries to possess broader tropical disease knowledge and cultural sensitivity, yet medical schools have lagged behind despite growing student interest. The authors review evidence supporting the benefits of expanding global health teaching and opportunities for medical students. They propose concrete steps that medical schools can implement to meet student interest and improve physician preparedness. Exposure to global health issues motivates students toward primary care, public health degrees, and underserved practice, and international rotations improve diagnostic acuity, physical exam skills, and cultural sensitivity.

Abstract

Worldwide increases in global migration and trade have been making communicable diseases a concern throughout the world and have highlighted the connections in health and medicine among and between continents. Physicians in developed countries are now expected to have a broader knowledge of tropical disease and newly emerging infections, while being culturally sensitive to the increasing number of international travelers and ethnic minority populations. Exposing medical students to these global health issues encourages students to enter primary care medicine, obtain public health degrees, and practice medicine among the poor and ethnic minorities. In addition, medical students who have completed an international clinical rotation often report a greater ability to recognize disease presentations, more comprehensive physical exam skills with less reliance on expensive imaging, and greater cultural sensitivity. American medical students have become increasingly more interested and active in global health, but medical schools have been slow to respond. The authors review the evidence supporting the benefits of promoting more global health teaching and opportunities among medical students. Finally, the authors suggest several steps that medical schools can take to meet the growing global health interest of medical students, which will make them better physicians and strengthen our medical system.