Global Health Curriculum in US Family Medicine Residencies

Abstract

Introduction: Interest in training opportunities and ethical engagement in global health among medical trainees continues to increase. Preparation activities and formal curriculum for trainees traveling for international rotations vary widely across programs, and alignment with ethical best practice guidelines among US family medicine (FM) residency programs is unknown. Methods: We surveyed FM residency programs about their global health (GH) curricula, with focus on practice alignment with ethical guiding principles for pretravel training in GH programs. We analyzed the responses by type of residency program and availability of faculty lead with expertise in GH. Results: Fifty programs were included in analysis of GH curriculum specifics. Programs with expert leads were significantly more likely to have a formal GH curriculum and/or pretravel training, to offer formal and informal faculty mentorship on cultural expectations and global health ethics, and to include scope of practice (P=.001) and pretravel safety training with a standard institutional process (P=.011). Program type was not significantly correlated with global health curriculum specifics, except for availability of journal club. Small sample sizes limited our analysis of residency type. Conclusion: Programs with an expert GH faculty lead were more likely to have formal GH curriculum or pretravel training with inclusion of elements recommended by the WEIGHT ethical best practices for GH training. Residency programs should consider designating lead faculty to formalize GH curriculum and mentorship in alignment with Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education competency requirements and with WEIGHT ethical best practices.