Best Practices for Short Term Medical Teams

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In recent years there has been a tsunami of short-term healthcare volunteers going into the developing world; both faith-based and humanitarian. Recent estimates tell us that 29% of students enrolled in medical schools participate in some type of short-term global health project prior to graduation. Dental, nursing, and allied health schools are also beginning to follow suit. Yet, few churches or educational institutions have any knowledge of what constitutes best practices in global health. This workshop will review the six guidelines for best practices in global health as they appear in the book “When Healthcare Hurts: An Evidence Based Guide to Best Practices in Global Health Initiatives”. It will also review the four primary areas of global health best practices which include the following.

1. Patient Safety
2. Healthcare System Integration and Collaboration
3. Facilitation of Health Development
4. Community Empowerment

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The Churches role in health care for the poor globally is, and should continue to be, our tangible expression of Christ to the nations that we cannot abandon. Alkire, B., Raykar, N., Shrime , M., Weiser, T., Rose , J., Nutt, C., . . . Farmer, P. (2015, June). Global access to surgical care: a modelling study. The Lancet, 3, 316-323. United Nations inter-agency group for child mortality estimates. (2015, September). Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimates. New York: UNICEF. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/publications/files/Child_Mortality_Report_2015_Web_9_Sept_15.pdf  World Health Organization. (2013, November 11). WHO Media Center . Retrieved from World Health Organization : http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2013/health-workforce-shortage/en/ World Health Organization. (2018, February). Fact Sheet on Maternal Mortality. Retrieved from World Health Organization Newsroom Fact Sheets: http://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/maternal-mortality  
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World Health Organization, 2017) Vesel, et al., 2009 Hill, Kirkwood, & Edmond, 2004 WHO/UNICEF, 2014 Hill, Kirkwood, & Edmond, 2004 WHO/UNICEF, 2014 Hill, Kirkwood, & Edmond, 2004 Hill, Kirkwood, & Edmond, 2004) WHO/UNICEF, 2014