title: Scaling up short-term humanitarian surgery: a global surgery elective for senior medical students.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The proportion of US medical students participating in global health has increased by 24%. These experiences are generally self-directed and lack a formal educational component. This article describes a structured, comprehensive, community-driven global surgery elective for senior-year students.
  
  
  METHODS
  "Surgery and Global Health" is a monthlong elective during which students shadow in the university hospital, lead discussions of an assigned text, attend lectures, and participate in a clinical rotation in rural Haiti. The first week is didactic and takes place in Atlanta, GA. Weeks 2 through 4 are clinical and are conducted in Haiti. Urological and general surgery procedures are performed during weeks 2 and 3, while the final week is reserved for follow-up care. This experience was institutionally supported.
  
  
  METHODS
  Emory University Hospital, Atlanta, GA; L'Hôpital St. Thérèse, Hinche, Centre, Haiti.
  
  
  METHODS
  Emory University School of Medicine students, years 2 through 4, supervised by faculty from the departments of Urology, General Surgery, and Anesthesiology. Senior-year students spent 21 days in central Haiti working in a rural clinical setting.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Students participated in all facets of surgical care including preoperative clearance, postanesthesia care, discharge planning, and follow-up. Students felt a level of supervised responsibility that was not afforded at their home institution and were able to take on more advanced clinical roles.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Students planned and executed this innovative experience with multidisciplinary, departmental, and institutional support. Stateside components introduced students to Haitian culture, global surgery ethics, and humanitarian surgical trip logistics. Structured global health experiences such as this give students practical skills and incentive to pursue careers involving global surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia. Electronic address: lhugar@emory.edu.
authors.forename: Lee A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Hugar
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Chelsea M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: McCullough
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Megan E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Quinn
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Sameer M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kapadia
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Barbara J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Pettitt
mesh_terms: D000533:Altruism; D003479:Curriculum; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education*; D005845:Georgia; D014943:Global Health; D006205:Haiti; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013520:Urologic Surgical Procedures / Q000193:education*
keywords: Interpersonal and Communication Skills; Patient Care; Systems-Based Practice; clinical clerkship; health occupations; humanitarianism; organizational innovation; students; undergraduate medical education