Preparing for an International Health Elective: Exploring Global Health, Ethics and Safety

Syllabus

• Week 1

  Ethics & Professionalism - King's College London and St George's, University of London

  • Introduction to the course

    In this first part, you will be introduced to the course and the educators from King’s College London and St George’s, University of London, and obtain an overview of the learning objectives and content to be covered in Week 1.

  • Understanding digital professionalism

    Many people stay in touch with friends, family and colleagues online when travelling. These steps introduce the some of the key issues of digital professionalism and how to avoid common pitfalls.

  • Working beyond competence

    In some situations, shortage of trained health professionals may mean that you are asked to do procedures that you would not be asked to undertake at home. These steps help you prepare for such circumstances.

  • Bringing gifts and dealing with scarcity

    Many students will travel with supplies for themselves or their hosts. This section considers how you might share these.

  • The impact of language barriers

    Many healthcare students undertake an elective in a country where they are not fluent in the local language(s). These steps offer guidances on how to prepare and overcome difficult language barriers.

  • What have I learnt this week?

    In these last few steps, you will review the week's activities.

• Week 2

  Staying Safe & The Social Determinants of Global Health - King's College London and St George's, University of London

  • Global Health and the Social Determinants of Health

    The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. In these steps, we will look at the many factors which shape and influence these circumstances.

  • Staying safe: Managing risk inside the clinical environment

    Safe venepuncture and managing needlestick injuries

  • Staying safe: Managing risk outside the clinical environment

    Managing Risk outside the clinic

  • What have I learnt this week?

    In these last few steps, you will review the week's activities.

• Week 3

  Health Systems, Voluntourism & Cultural Differences - King's College London and St George's, University of London

  • Health Systems

    Health infrastructures vary from country to country and not all have access the same financing and resources. These steps explore the essential components of a functioning health system using the WHO framework.

  • Voluntourism

    Voluntourism, the practice of mixing volunteer development work with tourism and travel, has become increasingly popular in the last few years. In these steps, we examine its relationship with international health electives.

  • Experiencing different professional cultures

    Many return from electives reporting practices that they are not familiar with or that they do not necessarily agree with. In these steps, we look at the challenges which arise from working different professional cultures.

  • What have I learnt this week?

    In these last few steps, you will review the week's activities.

Who will you learn with?