title: Evaluation of a Structured Predeparture Orientation at the David Geffen School of Medicine's Global Health Education Programs.
abstract: Given the lack of a standardized approach to medical student global health predeparture preparation, we evaluated an in-person, interactive predeparture orientation (PDO) at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) to understand program strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. We administered anonymous surveys to assess the structure and content of the PDO and also surveyed a subset of students after travel on the utility of the PDO. We used Fisher's exact test to evaluate the association between prior global health experience and satisfaction with the PDO. One hundred and five students attended the PDO between 2010 and 2014 and completed the survey. One hundred and four students (99.0%) reported learning new information. Major strengths included faculty mentorship (N = 38, 19.7%), opportunities to interact with the UCLA global health community (N = 34, 17.6%), and sharing global health experiences (N = 32, 16.6%). Of students surveyed after their elective, 94.4% (N = 51) agreed or strongly agreed that the PDO provided effective preparation. Students with prior global health experience found the PDO to be as useful as students without experience (92.7% versus 94.4%, P = 1.0). On the basis of these findings, we believe that a well-composed PDO is beneficial for students participating in global health experiences and recommend further comparative studies of PDO content and delivery.
authors.affiliation: Center for World Health, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, California; Department of Pediatrics, University of California, Los Angeles, California; Department of Medicine and Division of Infectious Diseases, University of California, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Sasha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Herbst de Cortina
authors.affiliation: Center for World Health, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, California; Department of Pediatrics, University of California, Los Angeles, California; Department of Medicine and Division of Infectious Diseases, University of California, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Gitanjli
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Arora
authors.affiliation: Center for World Health, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, California; Department of Pediatrics, University of California, Los Angeles, California; Department of Medicine and Division of Infectious Diseases, University of California, Los Angeles, California twells@mednet.ucla.edu.
authors.forename: Traci
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.affiliation: Center for World Health, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, California; Department of Pediatrics, University of California, Los Angeles, California; Department of Medicine and Division of Infectious Diseases, University of California, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Risa M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Hoffman
mesh_terms: D002140:California; D002982:Clinical Clerkship / Q000379:methods; D003140:Communicable Disease Control; D003479:Curriculum; D003906:Developing Countries; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D005180:Faculty, Medical; D014943:Global Health; D006801:Humans; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012577:Schools, Medical; D013337:Students, Medical