Thinking About Having a Health-Related Experience Abroad?

Many students think that going abroad to work or volunteer in a clinic or hospital will make them more competitive applicants for their particular Health Professions school.  While this may give the student an amazing experience and may help during the admissions process, some students find themselves in situations that they may not feel comfortable with. 

This is important because there are issues that arise when a student is doing something that they may not be qualified to do.  These include:

• potential for harm done to the student
• potential for harm to the patient
• legal issues with local authorities
• damage to reputation of institutions, both home and host
• putting a student's acceptance to health professional programs at risk

It is important to consider ethical risks and opportunities when thinking about having a health experience abroad.  A student must be able to recognize their limitations, and must be aware of their compentence and training.  If they aren't trained to pull teeth in the U.S., then they shouldn't be pulling teeth abroad.  Most legitimate programs set the expectation of the student as a learner, not a trained individual.  The student must know when to say "no thank you". 

Questions to ask when evaluating international opportunities:

• What is the expected role of the student during the experience?
• Who is organizing the opportunity?
• How long have they been involved in the community/location?
• Is the local community being compensated or otherwise remunerated for time
• and efforts supporting the opportunity?
• Is there a religious, governmental, or other affiliation of/relationship
• facilitating activities?
• What type of safety procedures, insurance, and incident response is in place?
• What type of preparation, in country support, and post-experience debriefing is provided?
• If students are paying a fee, is the use of the fees transparent, is their appropriate fiduciary practices by the organization?
• Does the organization/effort have an ethical code of conduct or other foundation? Does the student agree with it?

See the following articles for more information:

Ethics and Best Practice Guidelines for Training Experiences in Global Health: https://www.aamc.org/download/181690/data/guidelinesforstudentsprovidingpatientcare.pdf

Guidelines for Premedical and Medical Students Providing Patient Care During Clinical Experiences Abroad: http://www.ajtmh.org/content/83/6/1178.long

Gloal Health Ethics for Students: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19302567

Rural Medicine Programs

See the following document containing information about the Rural Medicine Programs offered at U.S. Medical Schools!

Rural Medicine Programs

Application Process Meeting Part II

Missed the Application Process Meeting Part II?  Check out the powerpoint presentation below to see what was talked about!


Application Process Meeting Part II

March 6 Medical Center Hour Has Been Canceled!

Due to potential travel concerns because of the forecast the Medical Center Hour titled
"Every Patient Tells a Story" has been canceled for tomorrow, March 6,!

Medical Center Hour - March 13, 2013

Students are invited to attend Dr. Vinik's Medical Center Hour talk on Wednesday, March 13 from 12:30-1:30pm in Jordan Hall Conference Center Auditorium. The title of his talk will be “Odyssey in the Life of a Physician Scientist.” 

There will be light refreshments!

This talk would appeal to anyone interested in diabetes/endocrinology and/or anyone considering a medical career in academics (including research).

More information about Dr. Vinik:  Dr. Vinik has received international recognition for his research on islet regeneration and the discovery of a gene, which could prove to be a cure for diabetes.  Dr.Vinik has been invited to present his work all over the world.  He has authored eight books, 116 book chapters, and has published more than 460 papers in peer-reviewed, highly reputable journals.  Dr. Vinik is a leader of a number of professional societies (e.g. he was Chairman of the American Diabetes Association task force on Nutrition, Chairman of the subcommittee for development of guidelines for neuropathy testing, Chairperson of the American Diabetes Association Grant Review Committee, and Director of the National Post-Graduate Education Course).

Medical Center Hour - March 6, 2013

Wednesday, 6 March 2013

12:30-1:30 pm

Jordan Conference Center Auditorium

University of Virginia School of Medicine

  

The Koppaka Family Foundation Lecture in Medical Humanities

Every Patient Tells a Story

Lisa Sanders MD

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine

Clinician Educator, Yale Internal Medicine Primary Care Residency Program

Author, Every Patient Tells A Story: Medical Mysteries and the Art of Diagnosis

Of all the data that physicians collect on patients as they try to make a diagnosis, the patient's lived experience of his or her illness is essential to this process and can only be gathered through actual conversation with the patient. Moreover, once the diagnosis is made, the doctor’s effective transmission of that story—now completed—back to the patient is key to effective treatment. In this Medical Center Hour, physician-author Lisa Sanders (who writes the popular “Diagnosis” column in the New York Times Magazine and the “Think Like a Doctor” blog in the New York Times) probes the crucial exchanges between doctor and patient that are at the heart of every medical mystery and its solution.

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This program is free and open to the entire university and the public. Health professionals who attend may apply for continuing education credit. Medical Center Hour counts toward first-year medical students’ SIM requirements.

The Medical Center Hour is produced weekly throughout the academic year by the Center for Biomedical Ethics and Humanities of the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Our series includes History of the Health Sciences Lectures, which we produce together with Historical Collections in the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library.

For information, call 434.924.5974 or see

http://www.medicine.virginia.edu/community-service/centers/biomedical-ethics-and-humanities/medical-center-hour

Watch Medical Center Hour on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/uvamch. Videos are posted a week after the program.

Nelson County Drug Store Owner Charged with Health Care Fraud and Wire Fraud

LOUISVILLE, KY—The owner of Crume Drug Store, located in Nelson County, Kentucky, was charged in United States District Court this week in a two-count federal information with wire fraud and billing private insurance companies and Medicare Part D for fraudulent prescriptions, announced David J. Hale, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.
According to the federal charges, Timothy Sizemore, age 36, of Bardstown, Kentucky, knowingly devised and executed a scheme between April 2010 and February 2012 whereby he used patients’ and doctors’ names to create fraudulent prescriptions and billed Anthem and other private insurance companies for those fraudulent prescriptions, even though those prescriptions were never actually filled. Further, it is alleged that during the same time period, Sizemore used patients’ and doctors’ names to create fraudulent prescriptions and billed Medicare Part D for those fraudulent prescriptions which were never filled.
If convicted at trial, Sizemore could be face no more than 30 years in prison, a fine of $500,000, and three years of supervised release. An initial appearance on the charges has not been scheduled.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Weiser and is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.

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The indictment of a person by a grand jury is an accusation only and that person is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.