PMID- 18045481
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20080220
LR  - 20220311
IS  - 1472-6920 (Electronic)
IS  - 1472-6920 (Linking)
VI  - 7
DP  - 2007 Nov 28
TI  - Loss of international medical experiences: knowledge, attitudes and skills at 
      risk.
PG  - 47
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite the great influence International Medical Experiences (IMs) 
      can have on young physicians and their impact on patients and communities, they 
      are not offered in all training programs and are at risk of being reduced in some 
      due to stringent guidelines for funding of graduate medical education. 
      DISCUSSION: IMs provide unique experiences in clinical, epidemiologic, cultural, 
      and political arenas. From an educational perspective, they broaden a physician's 
      differential diagnostic skills and introduce clinical entities rarely seen in the 
      U.S. Time spent in developing countries emphasizes the importance of community 
      health and increases cultural and linguistic competence. Experience working with 
      the underserved during an IM has been shown to increase interest in volunteerism, 
      humanitarian efforts, and work with underserved populations both in the US and 
      abroad. IMs also afford physicians the opportunity to learn about the delivery of 
      health care abroad and are associated with an increase in primary care specialty 
      choice. SUMMARY: It is time for the leaders in graduate medical education to 
      prioritize international health opportunities. Leaders in academic medicine can 
      press for changes in reimbursement patterns at the national level or special 
      funds for international electives. Hospitals can set up separate accounts to help 
      finance resident salaries and benefits while abroad. Individual departments must 
      be flexible with resident schedules to allow elective time. Medical students and 
      housestaff can organize and lobby larger organizations such as the American 
      Medical Association (AMA), the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC), 
      and specialty groups to make IMs universally accessible.
FAU - Grudzen, Corita R
AU  - Grudzen CR
AD  - Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program, University of California, Los 
      Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA. cgrudzen@mednet.ucla.edu
FAU - Legome, Eric
AU  - Legome E
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20071128
PL  - England
TA  - BMC Med Educ
JT  - BMC medical education
JID - 101088679
SB  - IM
MH  - Altruism
MH  - Attitude of Health Personnel/*ethnology
MH  - *Clinical Competence
MH  - *Cultural Diversity
MH  - Developing Countries
MH  - Health Services Accessibility
MH  - Health Status Disparities
MH  - Humans
MH  - *International Educational Exchange
MH  - *Internship and Residency
MH  - Medically Underserved Area
MH  - Poverty
MH  - United States
PMC - PMC2242732
EDAT- 2007/11/30 09:00
MHDA- 2008/02/21 09:00
PMCR- 2007/11/28
CRDT- 2007/11/30 09:00
PHST- 2007/03/16 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2007/11/28 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2007/11/30 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2008/02/21 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2007/11/30 09:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2007/11/28 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 1472-6920-7-47 [pii]
AID - 10.1186/1472-6920-7-47 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - BMC Med Educ. 2007 Nov 28;7:47. doi: 10.1186/1472-6920-7-47.