Elsevier

Mayo Clinic Proceedings

Volume 85, Issue 8, August 2010, Pages 734-741
Mayo Clinic Proceedings

ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Eight Years of the Mayo International Health Program: What an International Elective Adds to Resident Education

https://doi.org/10.4065/mcp.2010.0107Get rights and content

OBJECTIVE

To examine the educational benefits of international elective rotations during graduate medical education.

PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS

We studied Mayo International Health Program (MIHP) participants from April 1, 2001, through July 31, 2008. Data from the 162 resident postrotation reports were reviewed and used to quantitatively and qualitatively analyze MIHP elective experiences. Qualitative analysis of the narrative data was performed using NVivo7 (QRS International, Melbourne, Australia), a qualitative research program, and passages were coded and analyzed for trends and themes.

RESULTS

During the study period, 162 residents representing 20 different specialties were awarded scholarships through the MIHP. Residents rotated in 43 countries, serving over 40,000 patients worldwide. Their reports indicated multiple educational and personal benefits, including gaining experience with a wide variety of pathology, learning to work with limited resources, developing clinical and surgical skills, participating in resident education, and experiencing new peoples and cultures.

CONCLUSION

The MIHP provides the structure and funding to enable residents from a variety of specialties to participate in international electives and obtain an identifiable set of unique, valuable educational experiences likely to shape them into better physicians. Such international health electives should be encouraged in graduate medical education.

Section snippets

Overview of the Program

The MIHP was developed in 2001 as a means to facilitate resident involvement in global health in the context of elective training in graduate medical education programs (for a more detailed overview of the program, see the MIHP Web site8). Pilot funding was originally provided by the Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education in cooperation with the Mayo Fellows Association, a peer representation group for all Mayo trainees. With the exception of the first 2 years of operation, the program has

RESULTS

From its inception in 2001 through July 31, 2008, 162 residents have travelled to 43 different countries on 5 continents, caring for over 40,000 patients worldwide (Figure). Residents from 3 training facilities (Mayo Clinic in Arizona, Florida, and Minnesota) and from 20 specialties have participated in the MIHP, in both inpatient and outpatient settings (Table 1).

DISCUSSION

To our knowledge, our study is the first that has used systematic qualitative methods to evaluate residents' opinions about the benefits of international experiences during graduate medical education. The qualitative methodology allowed us to evaluate responses to open-ended questions, leading to a broad variety of themes and a deeper understanding of previously published numerical survey data on residents' international elective experiences.4, 5 Previous studies have addressed the effects of

DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE STUDIES

A number of important research questions remain regarding international health experiences in resident medical education: Are residents who have participated in such programs more comfortable in caring for people of different ethnic backgrounds? Are they more likely than their counterparts to care for the underserved after their training is complete? Are they happier? Are these residents less likely to order unnecessary diagnostic tests and/or invasive studies? Do they have common backgrounds

CONCLUSION

International health electives are an important part of residency education. These rotations have provided many educational and personal benefits to residents in many specialties, offering a fresh perspective on health care delivery and enhancing clinical and medical decision-making skills. The MIHP has provided financial and administrative support to residents, facilitating resident participation in these electives and furthering the overall goals of resident education. The benefits of

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Ms Michelle L. Pederson, Mayo International Health Program Coordinator, for her assistance in gathering the data.

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This work was supported in part by the Mayo Clinic Internal Medicine Residency Office of Educational Innovations as part of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Educational Innovations Project.

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