A toolkit for building medical programs for asylum seekers: Resources from the Mount Sinai Human Rights Program

Abstract

Forced migration has reached a peak worldwide and healthcare professionals and trainees are increasingly volunteering with medical human rights programs. The Mount Sinai Human Rights Program (MSHRP) provides pro bono forensic medical, gynecological, and psychological evaluations to document evidence of human rights abuses experienced by asylum seekers. From 2015 through 2018, MSHRP refined its workflow and processes to facilitate the coordination of 305 forensic asylum evaluations and 117 continuity care referrals. Here, we present a toolkit including data management tools, guiding questions to consider when establishing or expanding an asylum clinic, and key challenges and solutions from MSHRP's experience in service delivery. Building on existing descriptions of asylum clinics, this paper provides specific resources intended to help new programs hone their models to meet the increasing demand for forensic medical evaluations of asylum seekers and provide appropriate continuity care.