This session consists of a panel of women physicians who have served or are serving long term in medical missions. They will describe their call to missions, their missions service, and answer questions from the audience regarding issues of particular interest to women medical students and physicians considering medical missions.
There is great concern about the extent to which certain microorganisms have become resistant to the antimicrobial agents to which they were once highly susceptible. At the same time, there has been a significant decline in the number of new antimicrobial agents being developed and marketed. This presentation considers the uses and most important characteristics of the new drugs for the treatment of infectious diseases. Where possible, the properties of the new drugs are compared with those of older drugs available for the same uses. A New Drug Comparison Rating (NDCR) is provided for each of the new antimicrobial agents. Selected infections (e.g., HIV/AIDS, malaria) that are of particular importance in parts of the world in which missions programs are based are considered, as are selected infections (e.g., MRSA, Lyme disease) that represent important challenges in the United States.
Anecdotal evidence points to a general uptick in the interest and participation of volunteerism, including medical volunteerism. In contrast to Christian and Christ-centered medical missions, many volunteers are secular and have no religious affiliation when they work abroad. Recent studies have also shown a significance interest in medical missions overseas in both undergraduate and graduate medical education. The aim of this workshop will be to review the literature regarding secular medical missions. Additionally, the role of medical missions in secular medical education will be considered. Finally, the motivations for medical volunteerism, its relation – either positive or negative – with Christian medical missions, and the lines of dialogue between secular and Christian medical missions will be discussed.
It has often been said that one of the greatest reasons for people not to enter long-term missions is short-term missions. Using my own example as a case-study, we'll examine the logic and rationale behind this statement, and how short-term medical missions can be both a boon and detriment to the case of long-term missions.
