STUDENT PAPER Addressing Ethical Quandaries in Undergraduate Student-Led Global Health Trips: Design, Implementation, and Challenges of Guidelines by Students for Students

摘要

Interest in global health at American universities has increased dramatically over the past 15 years.1 International fieldwork is an integral component of global health programming, with students traveling for humanitarian reasons, learning opportunities, and a need to meet graduate program admissions requirements.2 For example, 73% of American medical schools require or encourage clinical experience by applicants despite committee members’ “significant concern” about the potential for unlicensed students providing care, such as surgical procedures, to patients in other countries during international health trips.3 The academic community has critiqued the ethical challenges of these short-term trips, but to date undergraduate students are absent from these discussions.