Category Archives: Ethics

Partera Influence on Health and Culture in Mexico | A Personal Story

This piece was written and contributed by CFHI participant Carmen Simmons, who was a Medical Student at Meharry Medical College when she participated in the Women’s Reproductive Health program in Puerto Escondido, Mexico in 2018.

When first arriving at the Centro de Salud, I have to admit I was proud of myself. I had managed to find the right colectivo in a mountainous countryside in the quaint town of Río Grande. After exchanging various “Buenos Dias”, I made my way over to partera, traditional midwife, Señora Lucia Zaguilan Mayoral.

At our first meeting, Sra. Lucia patiently listened to my never-ending questions in – let’s be honest – broken Spanish. When she spoke I struggled with the speed of her words. After some compromise on both of our parts, we found a tempo that worked for us to communicate.

Sra. Lucia calls Colonial Villa De Tututepec home and is a Rio Grande native. She has been attending births since she was 13 years old (today she is 63). Coming from a long line of parteras, she started learning as her grandmother’s apprentice. To this day, her family is filled with an impressive variety of healthcare workers.

She has attended conservatively well over 5,000 births. INCLUDING HER OWN CHILD’S! Yes, that’s right, she delivered her own son. She recounted the story to me while laughing at its ridiculousness. In her last days of pregnancy, she was in the kitchen cooking when her contractions started getting too close for comfort. She can’t exactly remember why no one was home, but nonetheless she had her abundant knowledge of births to comfort her. As calm as anyone could be while delivering her own child, Sra. Lucia guided her son toward the light of life. She even cut the cord herself! By the time her family came back home, they were greeted by a nursing newborn.

During the partera training I was able to witness, Lucia reflected on the immense amount of knowledge her grandmother bestowed onto her. This particular partera training is an annual training co-facilitated by Child Family Health International, local staff and a group of Northwestern students in partnership with the Oaxacan Ministry of Health. As a young girl, Lucia learned many techniques from her grandmother including monitoring her patient’s hair, skin, and eye color and the various methods of moving a baby into the correct position for delivery.

At the partera training, I immediately noticed that all of the women were 60 years or older. I asked her what she thought had changed in the last 20-30 years since she began practicing as a partera to account for this . She comments that she, and others, have noticed a change in attitude with the younger generation. She states that “most young women (under 35) are scared of anything to do with childbirth. Many want cesareans now. And the others are too afraid to learn to be a partera.” The sociopolitical context on the increasing cesarean rate in Mexico is interesting in itself. Approximately 39% of all hospital births in the state of Oaxaca were cesarean births. The World Health Organization states when the cesarean rate goes above 10%, there is no evidence that mortality rates improve.

During my time with Lucia and other parteras, I learned of the integral role that Parteras play in women’s health in Mexico although it seems to be an aging profession. I also learned about the scarcity of resources (financial, equipment, etc.) that the parteras face and overcome daily in their work. I fear that communities will not truly understand the immense importance of their role until there are very few left. My hope is we don’t wait until then, and find a way to revitalize younger generations to strengthen the tradition and empower the existing parteras.  

The LGBTQ+ Population in Uganda

Homosexuality is illegal in Uganda, but homosexuality is also illegal in 69 other countries worldwide, and the practice of labeling individuals as homosexual, gay, or lesbian was traditionally not a part of Ugandan culture. This topic was not politicized, and Ugandans accepted different practices. Recently, however, LGBTQ+ Rights in Uganda have become a prominent issue in politics and in the international media. In 2009, MP David Bahati proposed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill and in February 2014, it was signed into law by President Museveni. The Ugandan constitutional court struck down the law in August 2014, but civil rights activists say the situation for LGBTQ+ Ugandans is still worse than it was before the law. LGBTQ+ individuals, numbering around 500,000 in Uganda, often face consequences if they reveal their identity, so discussions about sexuality are rare.

While in country, focus on your safety and trust your gut. It is usually best to avoid questions about your sexuality and be ambiguous if asked. Please respect the local culture and assess who you are speaking to. Also, remember that travelers to Uganda often don’t face the same discrimination that locals do. As someone with “tourist privilege,” you may have slightly greater freedom of expression, but your actions may have repercussions for the locals you engage with, so please take that into consideration.

Traveling is always challenging, and LGBTQ+ individuals often face additional levels of complexity. The followingresources will help you to educate yourself on the local culture and social context. There are a wide range of resources available that will allow you to better understand the political climate and cultural nuances of a country. Some resources to explore include: ilga.org, the US State Department, the Geert Hofstede Center for Cultural Insights, the CIA World Factbook, alturi.org, ilgta.org, and HSBC Expat Explorer. It is also a good idea to register yourself with the State Department so they’re in a position to advocate for you. Staying in touch with friends and family back home who know your identity often helps travelers as well. Skype, Whatsapp, and Viber are good options for this.  

We also want to make explicitly clear that CFHI does not agree with or condone any discrimination based on sexuality. Our partners in Uganda are welcoming and do not practice discrimination, and students have not experienced any issues in the past. However, understanding the local context regarding LGBTQ+ rights will help ensure that there are no incidents in the future.

For more information, please refer to the following sources:

The OSAC LGBTQ Guide to Travel Safety

The State Department’s Website for LGBTI Travelers

The Human Rights Watch

The International Policy Digest’s Article on the Origins of Uganda’s Anti-Gay Law

Why Global Health Ethics Matter: A Personal Story

Image result for antigua guatemala

In the summer between my sophomore and junior year of college (undergraduate), I participated in a medical volunteering program for 2 weeks in Antigua, Guatemala. As a pre-med student, I knew I wanted to do something during my summer that involved medicine and figured volunteering in a hospital or clinic would be my best bet. Unfortunately because I had a mostly full time job, I was unable to secure any type of volunteering program locally since they all required a certain amount of hours that I would not be able to complete before returning to my university in the fall.

I then decided to look online at volunteering abroad, and found a myriad of programs that fit my time constraints perfectly. I honestly did not do too much research and just clicked on the first organization I found that had a solid amount of positive reviews and wasn’t too expensive. Looking at the cheapest options, I saw that in Latin America they offered an affordable medical program in Guatemala. While scrolling through the program description, the phrases “gain hands on experience” and “provide check-ups and basic medical care” piqued my interest as the idea of actually getting to perform medical procedures sounded incredibly appealing to myself as a student interested in a career in medicine. I imaged working in a hospital with doctors and nurses and getting the opportunity to experience medicine directly. The program description made it seem that these “poor” communities needed any help they could get, so I figured that I could kill two birds with one stone-help this underserved country while also gaining medical experience. Even though there were red flags consistently throughout the program description-the program oozed “voluntourism” and provided very brief and limited information on what actually would take place during participation- I wasn’t suspicious at all because I didn’t expect anything that involved volunteering to be problematic.

After signing up, there was a very brief pre-departure guide I had to complete before embarking on my trip. The guide was just a general guide and mostly focused on the logistics of getting there (ie. visas, packing list, etc.). There was a short list on my responsibilities, but it didn’t really mention anything about ethics. There were also 2 optional pre-departure training modules that were more informative on ethics, but were brief and took less than 30 minutes to complete. I didn’t really feel that prepared for my program, but figured I would get more instruction and guidance once I arrived.

Once I finally made it to Guatemala, I started to see problems and holes within the program. Before starting my rotation, I met with the medical coordinator for the program to have orientation. The orientation was pretty short and consisted of a powerpoint on the kind of care we could provide. After telling him I had had no prior experience in medicine, he told me that I would act somewhat like a nurse, taking weight, height, blood pressure, heart rate and temperature, making beds, cleaning, talking with patients, preparing materials and sterilizing equipment. Even though I told him I didn’t know how to take blood pressure or heart rate, he assured me the other visiting volunteers at the clinic would teach me. This orientation started to leave me a little hesitant about the program since he asked us to provide medical care, but expected other volunteers to teach us instead of himself as a doctor showing us.

After arriving to the clinic where I would be volunteering at, I was sent to work at the nurse’s station. At my rotation, there were 2 other volunteers placed there as well who had been there for about 4 weeks. One was applying to medical schools in the United States and the other was a 3rd year medical student at a university in Ireland. Luckily, one of them spoke spanish fairly well and was able to translate for us when we interacted with both the nurses and patients.

After the other volunteers briefly taught me how to perform the basic nurses duties (blood pressure, height, weight, and temperature), I was mostly on my own. It was definitely very nerve wracking having these duties when I’d never done them before and was even more difficult considering I spoke very little of the language. I was especially confused on taking blood pressure and while I immediately should have said that I wasn’t sure what I was doing, I was embarrassed to tell the other volunteers since they insisted it was an easy task and that I’d get the hang of it eventually. This is definitely something I wish I could’ve gone back to and done differently because there is a large possibility that patients’ information was recorded incorrectly due to my lack of experience. This was when I started to realize that gaining hands on experience wasn’t what I imagined at all. In my head I thought that everything would go smoothly and I would be ready to help the professionals in anyway possible. In reality though, my lack of experience became even more apparent to myself and I started to become suspicious that the “help” I was providing wasn’t all too helpful.

Image result for antigua guatemala crossWhile my lack of training may have led to incorrect patient information being taken down, there were other pre-med volunteers who were given duties that were even further beyond their scope of understanding and led to medical complications for patients. Since there were other volunteers working at my clinic, they cautioned me right away that I shouldn’t help with procedures such as giving stitches or injections since we didn’t have the training for that (I think they figured taking down patient information was harmless enough that my inexperience wouldn’t be an issue). I was very thankful for that advice since I was already feeling uncomfortable with the duties I had, I couldn’t even imagine how stressed I would have been if I had to perform anything more advanced. However, other volunteers weren’t as reserved. I remember this one other volunteer bragging to me about how the doctor had allowed him to give injections to a patient. He said that he didn’t really know what he was doing and he ended up piercing her 5 times because he kept doing it wrong. Another volunteer told me she helped stitch a patient up and said she was concerned that her stitches weren’t done right since she had never done it before. It was at this point that I really started to question the program we were on. Why weren’t there more regulations enforced by the program? Why were the duties of the volunteers so ambiguous? Why was I starting to feel so uncomfortable with what I was doing and why weren’t the other volunteers having the same questions I was?  

Besides just the volunteer aspect of the program, there were a lot of problems with the program as a whole, in particular when it came to safety. We were warned to never travel by ourselves at night. In keeping with those rules, two volunteers on my program walked home together one night after hanging out downtown. On their way home, someone pulled a knife on them and took all their belongings. The volunteers were traumatized and felt very unsafe about what had happened and contacted the program to let them know of the situation. The program responded incredibly insensitively and told them it was their fault for walking home late at night and didn’t provide any support for the two. Their response to an emergency situation such as this really made me concerned about the legitimacy of this program. They had told us it was okay to be out at night as long as we weren’t alone, yet blamed the volunteers for what happened instead of offering emotional support and/or more information on how we could stay safer while out at night.

I left my program feeling differently than I had expected. While I loved the country I was staying in, I felt disconnected from what I was actually doing. I felt uneasy about what myself and other volunteers had done without any medical experience and questioned my helpfulness. My experience showcases how easy it is for medical volunteering programs to be problematic and harmful for the communities they’re situated in when there is not an emphasis on global health ethics.

 

Note from CFHI: Many thanks to Zoe for sharing her story. If you have questions about ethical engagement in global health experiences please visit the publications page on the CFHI website (https://www.cfhi.org/publications) or listen to a recent webinar (https://www.cfhi.org/cfhi-webinars). We are also always available to answer questions about ethical global health engagement- contact us at students@cfhi.org.

CFHI at the Forefront of Ethical Standards in Global Health Education

As global health programs increase in popularity among students based in the Global North, an important conversation around “voluntourism” and intentionality in international health-related programs has emerged. Voluntourism often consists of students engaging in short-term volunteer work that they are not professionally, socially, or culturally equipped to take on, and – though well intentioned – often perpetuates hurtful stereotypes that low and middle-income countries need help from high-income countries. At their worst, global health voluntourism programs may offer students opportunities that end up harming patients and other community members. The pitfalls of voluntourism have been widely critiqued, including through popular satires such as the “Barbie Savior– The Doll That Saved Africa.”

How then, as an organization that promotes global health education, does CFHI make sure that our programs – as well as health-related global education programs more broadly – are ethical in theory, approach and practice? Part of the answer to that question is by getting global health organizations on the same page, ethically, and giving them the guidelines needed to run quality health education programs abroad.

CFHI Executive Director Jessica Evert, M.D. has recently co-authored two sets of internationally recognized guidelines for health-related experiences abroad which outline standards in programming that can improve global health programs for students and global partners. These guidelines shift the focus of global health programs away from hands-on clinical work (which can be dangerous and have long-lasting negative impacts for patients and visiting students) and toward cultural and contextual education of healthcare in different settings globally, as defined by local experts and community host partners. They also provide key frameworks for establishing long-term partnerships with host communities rooted principles like reciprocity, local leadership, and fair trade.

Guidelines for Undergraduate Health-Related Experiences Abroad was released by The Forum on Education Abroad, a conglomerate of US colleges and universities, organizations and foundations aimed at establishing standards of best practices in international education programs. Their newly updated set of guidelines is the first of its kind set forth by the Forum and is meant to be used along with the Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad in order to promote ethical practices specific to health-related international education experiences.

In addition to the Forum Guidelines, Dr. Evert also recently co-authored the article “Guidelines for Responsible Short-Term Global Health Activities: Developing Common Principles” in Globalization and Health, which helps to summarize existing standards and guidelines in the field.  With the release of both sets of guidelines, Dr. Evert and colleagues focus on creating a common ground between institutions and organizations involved in global health education. With clear and concise standards of best practices in global health, organizations are given the opportunity to improve the ethical standards of their programs, and to keep the best interests of host partners and student trainees in mind.

By contributing to standards of best practice in global health education, CFHI is challenging the narrative around health-centered international experiences and pushing other global health organizations to do the same.

A BRIEF REFLECTION: CUGH 2018 ANNUAL CONFERENCE

The definition of Global Health as a field can be traced to the 2009 Lancet article that reflects a consensus reached within a sub-set of CUGH leadership at the time.  There was an alternative definition put forth at the same CUGH meeting by a colleague from Kenya. He proposed that the definition of Global Health is a “concept fabricated by developed countries to explain what is regular practice in developing nations.”  Though an oversimplification, this perspective emphasizes a real risk in Global Health education and practice — the fabrication of a context outside our own frame of reference.
The Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) is the premiere gathering for academic institutions from the United States who are embracing the field of Global Health. As an academic field, Global Health is striving to better include institutions and colleagues from low and middle income settings, and to foster a burgeoning ‘walk the talk’ movement focused on representing “local” Global Health for health equity in our own backyards.  As I return from this year’s annual conference, I am struck by an evolution in the recognition of CFHI’s work and our growing Academic Partnerships.

Though we have long been at the forefront of conversations around ethical global health engagement, often helping to define standards in the field, Child Family Health International, (CFHI) as a non-profit “NGO,” has sometimes been perceived by faculty and academic institutions as inferior to colleges and universities.  This type of thinking has pervaded universities and has led to derogatory labels such as “ivory towers.” After more than 25 years, alas, I am happy to report an increasing recognition that CFHI’s rigor, evidence-based educational programs, and operationalization of best practices in Global Health education and partnerships deserve the admiration and respect of academia.  The conversations I am having are no longer in a spirit of convincing faculty and institutions of CFHI’s legitimacy, but rather constructive discussions about the how and the why of subtle, yet essential, nuances of quality, ethical, and transformative Global Health Education and Experiential Learning.

CFHI will continue to lead with research, constructive dialogue, and standard-setting programs. We will do so because this risk of fabrication of complex realities and global health contexts worldwide is a driving force behind our work. Gratefully, CFHI, a collaboration of community and academic-based educators from 10 countries partnering with universities to provide Global Health Education, is receiving well-deserved esteem from academia.  CFHI looks forward to continuing to strengthen our partnerships with universities to teach Global Health through mutually respectful collaborations and partnerships.

Service Learning and the Strive for Social Justice

by Robin Young
Associate Program Director, Africa and Asia

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As a nonprofit organization offering international health programs to students, is it our job to incorporate social justice into our work?

How can we bring feminist perspectives into our programming?

Does research coming out of “the Academy” in the United States apply to our partners and colleagues in the Global South?

These are the types of questions that were explored at the annual International Association for Research on Service Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE) conference, held in New Orleans.

IARSCLE is an international non-profit organization devoted to promoting research and discussion about service-learning and community engagement, aimed to advance understanding of scholarship from international perspectives.

At CFHI we offer service learning components in many of our programs for health students whether it is engaging with an ongoing, locally-led nutrition project in southwestern Uganda, or offering educational trainings to youth in an addiction rehabilitation center in Delhi, India. A lot of what we know about best practices in service-learning come from members of the IARSLCE community.

Mid-wife training in Port Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico

Mid-wife training in Port Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico

CFHI has recently played an instrumental role in bringing patient safety (and specifically, service-learning projects in which under-qualified students practice medicine beyond their level of education) into focus within the IARSLCE community, highlighting important tools such as the Global Ambassadors for Patient Safety (GAPS) modules, among others.

This year, CFHI presented a session called “From Research to Practice: Service-Learning in Healthcare Settings,” which allowed us to explore the case for general and program-specific learning competencies; explore the ethics of global health service-learning through the lens of case studies; and climb into best practices that prioritize both patient and student safety in healthcare settings abroad. As is always the case when surrounded by brilliant colleagues, it was an opportunity to share knowledge and resources and continue to think about how CFHI and other program providers can ensure that we are helping students to be prepared for their global health experiences.

Refugees and the Desire for Education

by Caity Jackson
Director of European Engagement

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Unusually hot weather welcomed me to the town where The Beatles famously made their debut. Coincidentally, the theme of the conference was ‘Imagine’, with a strong emphasis of thinking outside of the box and engaging everyone’s imaginative side in relation to European and international education.

But ‘imagining international education’ had a more serious tone this year, with the presence of sessions focusing on refugee education and how to increase inclusivity in all aspects of the recruitment, delivery, and evaluation of the educational process. How are we making international education possible for all?

This year, the EAIE conference held a track focusing on refugee education, in an attempt to address and respond to the refugee crisis in Europe. These 13 events focused on fair admission, recognition of international educational attainments, and how Germany is responding to the influx of refugees through intercultural certifications and integration programs.

Not only being represented through sessions and posters, refugee education wove itself into the opening and closing plenary of the entire conference. Kilian Kleinschmidt began his keynote address with harrowing figures: 1.2 million people have been displaced from their homes over the last year, with the total budget available for all aid, including refugees, natural disaster assistance, etc, worldwide, adding up to approximately US$20 billion. “Compare that to the money spent on real estate development and you understand why aid is the wrong concept. Aid is an arrogant concept of charity”, Killian asserted.

Photo by: Russell Watkins/Department for International Development

Photo by: Russell Watkins/Department for International Development

‘Imagining’ again that education for all is within our grasps, sessions focused on overcoming the barriers international education recruiters/marketers, administrators, and alumni coordinators face when it comes to a mobile population. How can we value our prospective and current students and erase the dollar sign universities associate them with? How can we increase diversity on campus while ensuring students have all the services they need to succeed at their fingertips? In only a few days, participants left with imaginative answers, if not even more questions to guide their work.

Diversity has always been a focus of the work that CFHI has engaged in. We imagine a world in which there are no barriers to the enriching experience cross-cultural learning can give. Our many scholarships aim to address these barriers and we are proud of the breadth of diversity in our scholarship applicants and successful candidates and we are honoured to walk side by side with our partner organizations.

Wrapping up this event that saw over 5000 professionals from over 90 countries gather in the spirit of increased global cooperation, Melissa Fleming of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told stories of those that our work has not reached. These stories from some of the most dire situations of the world, where the hunger to learn is beyond any of our comprehensions, was the inspirational closing we needed. Melissa began her talk with an account of her experience taking her own daughter through the steps of studying in France. She then told us about Esther, a young refugee whose main aspiration is to become a neurosurgeon. The contrast, in terms of opportunities for these two equally young and motivated women, is evident. If education offers life opportunities, why are we failing to provide this to those who need it most? As Melissa put it: “my daughter’s future is in her hands, Esther’s is in ours.”

The Joys of Motherhood: Sharing CFHI’s Impacts with my Children

Mother’s Day post by Jessica Evert, MD, CFHI Executive Director

It’s been said that “having kids- the responsibility of rearing good, kind, ethical, responsible human beings- is the biggest job anyone can embark on” (Maria Shriver). The challenge of mothering is monumental, yet there are precious pieces of this world that aid us in the journey. For me, one of those pieces is Child Family Health International (CFHI). IMG_7937 Jess & the kids

Through my involvement with and support of CFHI, my daughter has come to learn about a world beyond her imagination and comfort zone. I have been able to support mothers in 10 countries; community leaders who are passionate about making those struggling in their midst better off; and young people who are embarking on a transformative experience abroad that will raise their consciousness of global citizenship and make them feel a “a little softer about places that are not as economically well off,” as one CFHI Medical Director put it.

The day in and day out of mothering is a frequently overwhelming cacophony of whining, laughter, hugs, and shrugs. There are moments that intersperse our daily routine and allow us to expand our children’s worldview. These moments make us feel like super mamas. Through CFHI I am able to be the mother I want to be for my children and the children of the world.

Although my financial support of CFHI is modest, it is steady. Through this steady giving to CFHI, I am confident I am contributing to a better world. Through modeling generosity for my children, I am confident I am shaping the kind, ethical, responsible humans that I hope they will become.

CFHI Convenes Pre-health Advisors for Workshop on Global Health Best Practices

Advising Students on Health Experiences Abroad

On June 26th, I collaborated on a workshop entitled “Beyond the Basics: Advising Students on Health Experiences Abroad,” led by Child Family Health International (CFHI) Executive Director Dr. Jessica Evert and Tricia Todd, MPH, Assistant Director of the University of Minnesota Health Careers Center. The workshop coincided with the National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions (NAAHP) Annual Conference, held this year in San Francisco. Advisors arrived at CFHI’s San Francisco headquarters in to a full house with over 20 attendees representing 15 different colleges and universities. Small Liberal Arts colleges from Maine were particularly well represented, with advisors from Bates, Bowdoin, and Colby College in attendance.CFHI Advising Health Students Workshop

As a grad student of International Education Management, I was interested to observe the backgrounds represented amongst the attendees. Some were faculty in science departments, some staff from career development offices, and others from programs specifically geared towards global health. What everyone had in common was knowledge of issues relating to advising pre-health students, and all expressed worries regarding the growth of an “industry” to meet the rapidly growing demand from students seeking health-training programs abroad.

Health Students Doing Too Much, Too Soon – How to Choose Reputable Programs

The issue of the commodification of education abroad, which I was familiar with from graduate courses, took on greater significance when discussing health-related programs where issues of medical ethics and patient safety come into play. In such cases, not only are students being sold an education abroad “experience”, but unethical program providers tell students that they will be able to perform clinical work that exceeds their training and “change the world” through their work, effectively putting patients’ lives at risk.

Advisors were eager to discuss strategies for guiding students towards reputable programs and avoiding companies and experiences where students are encouraged to “do too much, too soon.” Case studies were presented, based on actual incidents from the field. Some were particularly alarming: undergraduates delivering babies, students conducting hospital rounds unsupervised, even instances of students scrubbing in for surgery! Unfortunately many students are under the erroneous impression that participating in this type of hands-on clinical experience will give them a leg-up in the competitive world of medical, nursing or other health professions school admissions. Part of the messaging to pre-health professions students therefore needs to focus on how performing clinical duties beyond what they are authorized to do here in the U.S. is highly unethical, and could jeopardize their own careers.

CFHI Advising Health Students

Before the evening was over, Dr. Evert, playing the roll of the advisor, and I, playing the part of a well meaning (but naïve) pre-med student, acted out an all too common scenario for the group. Fortunately, in our fictional advising session the student wasreceptive to ideas. The advisor convinces the student to re-examine motivations for wanting to go abroad, and suggests the right questions to ask when choosing a global health education program. The role-play emphasized the many tools available for students to examine their motivations for taking part in a health experience abroad. I think advisors in attendance left the CFHIUMN Health Careers Workshop with new resources, a feeling of community, and a better sense of how to guide students to help them make better decisions for their global health education.

 

Special thanks to our guest blogger, CFHI Intern Alex Nichol, for authoring this post.

Truth in the Spoof: Medical Voluntourism in The Onion

Truth in the Spoof: An expose of voluntourism in The Onion.

By: Aditi Joshi, MD

Newsflash!  This week’s headlines report a new humanitarian organization ‘Doctors Without Licenses’ will start providing substandard care by putting together a group of “decertified physicians, pre-medical undergraduates, and ‘people just interested in the human body’.” The organization states it will be sending their staff to conflict zones and underserved areas to incorrectly provide medical care.

Image from The Onion satirical article

This news was reported in The Onion, a satirical weekly publication, so it is, of course, facetious. The sad truth is that it refers to a very real phenomenon.

Voluntourism and Medical Voluntourism – Repercussions

Searching ‘voluntourism’ on Google, one finds a number of hits for organizations that set up volunteer opportunities for well-meaning individuals to work in underserved communities. Medical voluntourism refers to doing medical care within these communities; these volunteers can be physicians, nurses, residents, medical students and a growing number of organizations offer hands-on opportunities for pre-medical students, as well. More and more research as well as anecdotal reports state that these short term volunteer trips do more harm than good to the local community.  (If you’re interested in a great contrast between voluntourism and global health—this article is a must read. The volunteers may be providing direct patient care, giving medications, and doing procedures. In cases where the volunteer has no formal training, and would not be allowed to do the same in their home countries, this type of care is unethical whether or not the results are disastrous.  Even for those who are trained and skilled, the lack of knowledge of local infrastructure, drug formularies, culture, language and historical frameworks can actually lead ‘good’ actions to having negative consequences.

Solutions and Social Responsibility

Proposed solutions vary as the scope of the problem is large and not fully realized. However, organizations such as Child Family Health International – CFHI, try to decrease harm by giving students the opportunity to immerse within the culture, focus on broad global health competencies, observe native health care providers who are dedicated to their communities long-term health. This prevents the student from being a short-term ‘band-aid’ health worker or trying to get patient care experience that they are not licensed to undertake. The students are able to understand health concerns in other countries while minimizing possible harmful outcomes.

Voluntourism is most likely here to stay, however the importance of finding ways to reduce harm while giving the local community the help it requires is an ongoing challenge.

 

Thanks to our guest blogger, Aditi Joshi MD, ER Physician and Former President IFMSA-USA for authoring this post.

CFHI Commended in Chronicle for Higher Education Article

 

From the Chronicle of Higher Education:

“Over the past decade, the number of American students in health fields going abroad has nearly tripled, with many opting for programs that take them out of the classroom and into clinics and hospitals. But as participation has increased, so, too, have educators’ concerns.

Far too often, experts say, students are providing patient care—conducting examinations, suturing wounds, even delivering babies—for which they have little or no training. Indeed, as competition intensifies for medical-school slots, some students may actually be going overseas for hands-on experience they could not get in the United States, in hopes of giving their applications a competitive edge.”

The article is entitled “Some Global Health Programs Let Students Do Too Much, Too Soon,” and here at Child Family Health International (CFHI) we couldn’t agree more!

CFHI India Student on ProgramCFHI programs are highlighted in the Chronicle article, including quotes and reflections from CFHI’s Executive Director encouraging students to think about ethical implications of their experiences, and shaping student expectations for what is ok to do abroad.

As the field of global health continues to grow, so too are programs and options available to health students of all fields, often promising opportunities to “help” and engage in hands-on experience beyond their training, skill level, or licensure.  From the beginning CFHI has used an asset-based approach for engaging with communities abroad, and encouraging students to “Let the world change YOU.” In this way we position participants of Global Health Education Programs to learn, reflect, and realize that many times the most powerful impact they have in their role abroad is to form connections and relationships with local expert physicians and patients that will serve them in their future careers, as well as learn about the multitude of health determinants and complex global realities that underlie global health challenges.  We’d like to extend a big thank you to the Chronicle of Higher Education for helping us spread the word and advocate for social responsibility in health and medical education.

What do you think should be students’ role in health settings abroad?  How can students balance enthusiasm for learning while respecting ethical boundaries in clinical settings?  Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

CFHI: Asset-Based Community Engagement

Child Family Health International (CFHI) at 20 years old continues to be the gold-standard in forward thinking and innovative frameworks in global health education.  CFHI provides community-basedsmall-logo2_png education alongside local professionals via clinical and public health experiences for students and those interested in learning more about medicine and health-related fields, with more than 20 programs in 6 countries.  Programs cover a variety of topics from maternal health to palliative care.

What Makes CFHI Different?

After all these years CFHI remains unique, continuing to challenge paradigms in global health and advocating for local communities. CFHI partners with communities that are considered low-resource and underserved by global financial standards.  Rather than focusing on what is lacking, however, CFHI helps to identify community strengths, ingenuity, and passion.  In close collaboration with local teams, CFHI creates programs and funds community health projects identified and carried out by local teams. This practice is based on the asset-based community development approach, formalized at Northwestern University.  The CFHI approach positions local health practitioners and patients as the ‘local experts’—presenting global health realities through authentic experiences that help shape and transform young people who are interested in global health, equity, and global citizenship.

CFHI Student with Dr. Paul, Rural Urban Himalayan Rotation

CFHI Student with Dr. Paul, Rural Urban Himalayan Rotation

Not Just Talking the Talk, But Walking the Walk

Importantly, CFHI is a staunch proponent of compensation for local community contributions and practicing financial justice.  Uniquely CFHI, 50% or more of student program fees go directly to the communities they will be visiting, benefiting the local economy at large and specifically undeserved health systems.  CFHI is an active affiliate of Consortium of Universities for Global Health, United Nations ECOSOC and has authored literature about global health educational curriculum development at undergraduate and graduate levels.   CFHI encourages students to “Let the World Change You” in preparation for being a part of socially responsible, sustainable change they wish to see in the world.

Turning Dark Profits into Enlightened Transformation

From Skepticism to Hope: Turning Dark Profits into Enlightened Transformation

I’ve been a doctor now for 13 (lucky) years but I recently had the opportunity to reflect on my path towards becoming a physician and my involvement in Continue reading

How Can We Think Globally & Act Locally?

Phrases like “Think Global, Act Local” and “Global Health is Local Health” are catchy, but it’s sometimes difficult to figure out what they really mean. Continue reading

CFHI Featured at AAFP Global Health Workshop

Child Family Health International’s  Quito, Ecuador Medical Director Dra. Susana Alvear and Global Medical Director Dr. Jessica Evert were featured in the closing keynote address of the 9th Annual AAFP Global Health Workshop.  Nearly 300 attendees from 25 countries attended to share ideas, evidence, and inspiration on topics ranging from global health education at US institutions to the proliferation of family medicine around the world to the ethical challenges of global engagements.

Drs. Alvear and Evert presented on the realization of ethical aspirations- breaking down ethical concepts into practical topics and tangible actions.  The presentation was warmly received.  Dr. Dan Ostergaard,  AAFP’s Vice President for Health of the Public and Interprofessional Activities emphasized the application of CFHI’s motto “Let the World Change You” for all trainees, faculty, and physicians active in global health.  He also emphasized the concept drilled home by Drs. Alvear and Evert that we should really speak of “Toward Equity” rather than “Equity” itself given the gross disparities around the world.  Drs. Evert and Alvear emphasized the ability of institutions and individuals from developed countries to highlight the value of assets in developing country contexts—for example, richness of culture, strong traditional medicine practices, resourcefulness, rather than emphasizing the disparities of financial resources in order to ‘level the playing field,’ a concept originating from CFHI’s former Executive Director, Steve Schmidbauer.

Great respect and admiration were expressed for CFHI’s leadership, program structure, and partnership model.

New MCAT Means Greater Need for Global Health Exposure

The New MCAT – Shaping Future Physicians for the Better

For pre-medical students their life choices are often defined by the MCAT—the often-dreaded U. S. medical school entrance exam that determines whether their professional dreams are dashed or realized.  Rarely do we consider that what we test and emphasize on such exams determines what is prioritized in undergraduate education and consequently Continue reading

Trends in Global Health Education: UT Health Science Center, San Antonio

UT Health Science Center, San Antonio Houses Global Health in the Center for Ethics

It’s interesting to consider where a university or medical school chooses to house their Global Health efforts and how this affects the focus and framework of global health activities.  Continue reading

Students Asking Difficult Questions on Global Health Engagement and Development

During the Western Regional International Health Conference I had the privilege of lunching with a group of inspirational and innovative undergraduate students from the University of Washington and University of British Columbia.  At University of Washington students have created the Critical Development Forum (CDF),  a think-tank creating Continue reading

World AIDS Day 2011

On this 30th anniversary, World AIDS Day gives us a time to pause and take in the enormity of this disease that has ravaged so much of humanity.  There will be much written today about how we are turning a corner and that the epidemic is showing signs of coming to an end.  It is important to celebrate and salute the great accomplishments in the fight against AIDS but it is also important to note that we are a long way from taking a victory lap.  We do need to build momentum in the fight, so the accolades are helpful as long as they help generate enough buzz and enough energy to follow through by implementing and building on the advancements that have been made.

Unfair

The latest numbers show that there are about 34 Million people with HIV world-wide.  At CFHI, because of our international partnerships, we are acutely aware that among all the world’s AIDS statistics it is particulary sobering to note that 60% of all cases are in Southern Africa and that South Africa has the horrible distinction of being the country with the most cases.  Also it is important to note that statistics shoe that among all Asian countries, India has the most cases.  When we look at global health disparities in general, we see how unfair the realities of burden of disease and access to healthcare are but in the context o this particular disease, it is somehow even more shocking. Try to take some time this World AIDS Day to educate yourself.  The World Health organization has a wealth of information, you can start at this link.

One of the great privileges for me as part of CFHI, is the opportunity I get to visit doctors, nursers, and other healthcare workers in the field.  As you really cannot even begin to imagine, communities where the prelevance of HIV/AIDS is very high, are impacted in a variety of ways.  On World AIDS Day, I think back on the doctors and nurses in hospitals that are inundated with patients due to the epidemic yet they still push on, they still show up even when success is not a common part of their day.   Finding local health professionals who are dedicated to their own underserved communities and trying to support them in their work is at the heart of what we do.  We see them in hospital wards that are overflowing, we see them on strenuous trips to rural areas to test, educate, and treat -thus making treatment and  healthcare accessible to  more of the population.  We see them in hospitals where the staff room has become a small ward or infection control area thus leaving them spending long hours working with no place to go for a break.  We see them in clinics working tirelessly as as line of patients stretches out the door and down the street, more than a city block.  We see them morn the loss not only of patients but of so many of their colleagues, and yet they continue.  We see them in these situations every day, and we see them more dedicated and more earnest in their efforts each day.  These are real heroes in this global fight and we salute you on this World AIDS Day and we pledge our continued efforts to help support and champion your work.

On this World AIDS day, 2011, it is particularly wonderful to note that a new film is debuting in South Africa.  Inside Story: the Science of HIV/AIDS will be premiering across South Africa.  A wonderful attempt to target the exact population that the epidemic is targeting –young people.  Using live action, computer animation and, yes, football (soccer), the goal is to educate through entertainment.  Actors from different African countries are participating in hopes that the film will gain audiences across Africa.  In addition to a love story and a sports story, the film shows through animation what is happening inside the body as HIV and AIDS run their course.  The effort deserves a two thumbs up even though we have yet to actually see the whole film.  We hope that this film can be more effective than any drug at combating the disease.

CFHI Listed in USA TODAY as Trusted Charity

Today the editors of USA TODAY added a Special Section to their national newspaper called Sharing in the USA.  This is an annual attempt to focus on charitable giving.  Included in this section is a list of national charities that have earned the Seal of the Better Business Bureau as an Accredited Charity.  Of all the nonprofit organizations in the USA, only about 300 have met this set of rigorous and comprehensive standards that are independently researched and verified by the Better Business Bureau in Washington DC.  The 20 standards cover Governance, Fund Raising Practices, Finances and Financial Reporting, Donor Privacy and Transparency of national charities.

CFHI is proud to be a Seal Holder of the BBB and to have, once again, made this list.  It is a testament to the hard work of our Board of Directors and our Staff who are dedicated to the highest standards of nonprofit management striving to run socially responsible programs with accountability and transparency.  All the national Seal Holders are listed on the full page ad under the banner headline: Give With Confidence.

The BBB calls this the Wise Giving Alliance Accreditation Standards and issues a report on national charities which is visible on their website.  This is an effort to offer a resource to help those who want to research their charitable giving and have some independent verification of the claims that a charity might make.  You can see the report for CFHI as prepared by the BBB earlier this year.