ETHICS AS AN AGENT FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

ANNA MALAVISI, DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY, MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, MALAVISI@MSU.EDU

Leadership in Medicine for the Underserved/Vulnerable

• A program of the College of Human Medicine at MSU in partnership with Synergy Medical Education Alliance.

• LMUV Maxim: The most effective learning and relationships result from striving to maintain a humble heart and a teachable spirit.

The purpose of the LMUV program:

• Provide experiences for medical students to help them care for underserved/vulnerable populations with sensitivity and expertise, while helping communities address public needs affecting level of wellness of individuals and groups.

• Appreciate the impact of direct care delivery, epidemiologic research and health education on health status as well as health policy implications.

Issues that arise from international health experiences:

• Benefits/harms of short term placements• Community involvement• Sustainability• Evaluation of programs

“why did our trip – and others like it- escape the ethical scrutiny applied to clinical research in developing countries?”

Matthew DeCamp, 2007

“problems addressed in short-term medical outreach are only symptoms of broader inequalities in health that require more radical solutions at the national and international level”

Matthew DeCamp, 2007

Ethical Concerns and Global Health Sessions The objectives of these sessions are:- To increase the student’s awareness and understanding

of health within a global context.

- To contribute to the student’s understanding of issues underpinning international development.

- To enhance student’s ability to identify ethical issues within a global health and development context.

- To assist the students in undertaking a more in-depth analysis of the ethical concerns and proposing alternatives/solutions.

Issues that arose from the students:

• Professional ethics• Ethnocentrism/cultural competency• Research ethics• Medical missions/resource allocation

“We as future physicians and participants in a program aimed at working to serve underserved and vulnerable populations should be particularly careful to ensure that we not only preach ethical practices but that we implement them in our own lives.”

Alisan Fathalizadeh, 3rd year student, LMUV

References

Decamp, Matthew, Scrutinizing Global Short-Term Medical Outreach, Hastings Center Report 37, no.6 (2007):21-23

Photo Credits: Paul Johnson, LMUV student taken during their overseas in Peru, Feb 2011.