Abstract
The Rural Undergraduate Support and Coordination (RUSC) program has stimulated teaching in remote indigenous health, primary health care and international health for Australian students prior to their placements. Medical students have traditionally taken electives in the developing world, although these electives are of variable use to the communities hosting them and to the students. Calls for development of a curriculum in international or global health have resulted in some attempts to define a curriculum. An International Health (IH) course at the University of Adelaide Medical School, South Australia, has evolved since 1999. The IH course has functioned both as an introduction to the social determinants of health and as a pre-departure course for student electives. The sequence progresses from general information to disease specific information and service provision for refugees and returning travellers. Experienced presenters deliver the content; student assessment is via a group development program proposal. The current course aligns with international thinking on 3 structural themes for global health: the burden of global disease, travellers' medicine and immigrant/refugee health. Student opinion expressed in qualitative evaluation has been largely positive and consistent with the debate about whether this content should be a core unit or an elective part of the curriculum. From 2011 the course will be known as 'Global Health' and ongoing content development is expected.
Highlights
Context: The Rural Undergraduate Support and Coordination (RUSC) program has stimulated teaching in remote indigenous health, primary health care and international health for Australian students prior to their placements
The Rural Undergraduate Support and Coordination (RUSC) program (1997-2011) developed rural clinical placements for Australian medical students to provide an inspiration for future rural work
Understanding the breadth of global health included an awareness of recent changes, for example the migration of medical workforce and the threat of pandemic influenza A H1N14 led to development of standard curriculum frameworks[6] and persistent calls for global health to be incorporated in all medical curricula[5,7]
Summary
Spencer Gulf Rural Health School, University of Adelaide and University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. Submitted: 13 January 2011; Revised: 10 March 2011; Published: 19 May 2011 Laven G, Newbury JW. Global health education for medical undergraduates Rural and Remote Health 11: 1705. Global health education for medical undergraduates Rural and Remote Health 11: 1705. (Online), 2011
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
