First, the international experience enables medical students to arrive at an understanding of the health care delivery systems of the countries they visit. After all, there is great value in learning how people in other countries access and receive care. Furthermore, students on international rotations fulfill a service objective. Part of their mission is to contribute to the well-being of patients in the countries they serve. As a student counselor, Robichaud encourages students to take full advantage of international electives.
Perspective is everything.
In doing so, she believes they increase their cultural sensitivity and their clinical effectiveness. In recent years, some 93 percent of U.S. medical schools have allowed third or fourth year medical students to study overseas for up to two months . Preventive care that really works During his one-month rotation in Edinburgh, Scotland, Lane Beatty studied diabetes and endocrinology at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and its affiliated diabetes clinic. This city street in Edinburgh is in sharp contrast to city streets of America. The key difference, he said, is that the United Kingdom employed an aggressive style of preventive care which puts equal responsibility on the patient and doctor.