• Ashley Lanys, Gena Krikler, and Rachel F Spitzer.
• Faculty of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Toronto, 123 Edward Street, Suite 1200, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 1E2, Canada. ashleylanys@gmail.com.
• Hum Resour Health. 2020 Jan 29; 18 (1): 6.

BackgroundThere is evidence that participating in global health electives generates positive educational outcomes and personal benefits for medical trainees. The objective of this study was to examine the effect and impact that a global health elective has on CanMEDS competencies and anticipated future practice.ResultsThe medical expert, collaborator, leader, scholar, and professional CanMEDS competencies were self-perceived to be strongly impacted through this elective. A total of 94% of participants indicated it increased their strengths as a medical expert and leader, 82% indicated a major impact on the scholar competency, 88% of participants reported a strong impact as a professional, and 76% of participants indicated that it strongly impacted them as a collaborator. The majority of participants continue to have involvement in global health, and 88% of respondents found this elective to be influential on their current practice and beliefs.ConclusionsThese results suggest that individuals who participated in this global health elective perceived value in their experience. These findings support our hypothesis that participation in this global health elective would generate self-perceived positive impacts. Global health electives may provide an opportunity for physicians to expand on their CanMEDS competencies and become more proficient in caring for diverse patient populations.

2 keywords...

hide…