How Should Mission Trips Be Administered?

Kristin K Sznajder; Michael C Chen; Dana Naughton

doi:10.1001/amajethics.2019.722

How Should Mission Trips Be Administered?

AMA J Ethics. 2019 Sep 1;21(9):E722-728. doi: 10.1001/amajethics.2019.722.

Authors

Kristin K Sznajder¹, Michael C Chen², Dana Naughton³

Affiliations

¹ An assistant professor of public health sciences and the associate director for international initiatives in the Department of Public Health Sciences at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
² An assistant professor of ophthalmology and the associate director of the Global Health Center at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
³ The director of the academic minor program in global health at Penn State University in University Park, Pennsylvania, where she is also an assistant teaching professor in the Department of Biobehavioral Health.

PMID: 31550218
DOI: 10.1001/amajethics.2019.722

Abstract

Opportunities to study and practice health-related professions internationally offer transformative benefits for patients, educators, and students. Institutions and educators should model ethical behavior and set examples for global health trainees. Toward this end, it is imperative that universities engaging in international immersion experiences ensure that principles of respect, beneficence, and justice are upheld.

MeSH terms

Global Health / education
Global Health / ethics
Humans
International Educational Exchange
Medical Missions / ethics
Medical Missions / organization & administration*
Schools, Medical / organization & administration
United States