When Partners Have Real Autonomy - Managing a Program Cancellation: An Ethics in Action Case Example

Abstract

You are the program manager for a medical student clinical rotation that occurs in a developing country. This program embeds US medical students, under the supervision of local physicians, into government-sponsored health care facilities for low income families. One month before the beginning of your program, you receive word from your local partner that the government has temporarily suspended the necessary approvals for foreign doctors and students to see patients in government hospitals and clinics. Though the government says the suspension is for the reevaluation of such programs, there are rumors that this action may be in retaliation to recent US foreign policy.