Medical Education in Global Health: Ethical Considerations

An increasing number of students are opting to participate in global health electives during their medical training. Such international rotations have been demonstrated to positively affect student behaviour by evoking a deeper understanding of the impact of poverty, developing cultural awareness, and inspiring students to pursue careers caring for the underserved. However, while opportunities to receive this experience are becoming more abundant, important ethical issues have arisen surrounding these international placements. Such ethical issues include: potential conflicts of interest, participation above the trainee’s clinical level, power imbalance, and burden on the host institution. We therefore review the aforementioned ethical considerations and include practical approaches to address these issues. Moreover, we highlight the concept of the creation of ongoing partnerships between sending and host institutions to establish mutually beneficial relationships, further strengthening the partnership and promoting the exchange of ideas