Public Health in Medical Mission Settings is organized by Remote Care Education.

Learn how to handle public health issues during medical missions
This course covers core global public health issues such as Diarrheal Disease, Dental/Ophthalmology, Nutrition, Mental Health, and Care of the Elderly/Palliative Care. These fields provide a solid background not only for specialists but especially for non-specialists to improve their ability to contribute to these kinds of missions. This also includes our introduction to medico-legal and ethical guidance for safely and effectively planning and working in these fields

Lesson Plan:

Medico-Legal Aspects of Mission Work | 70 minutes
Explore the complex medico-legal considerations surrounding mission work in developing regions. Learn how to avoid placing you or your team in legal trouble while far from home, how to license and ensure the security of your team, and how to make best-practice decisions in resource-limited settings. Also, review the ethical considerations for mission work and handling medical errors. Participants should develop an appropriate ethical framework to guide their behavior during medical aid work, reduce their liability on missions, ensure better-informed consent, and work more smoothly with local services.
Diarrheal Disease Fundamentals for Resource-Limited Settings | 52 minutes
This ubiquitous medical mission issue receives special attention. Common causes are reviewed, with an emphasis on pattern recognition and clinical diagnosis, common causes, dehydration, public health, and primary prevention. Management strategies in remote settings are included, as well as regional barriers and strategies for larger-scale interventions. Participants should gain confidence and competence in recognizing and managing diarrheal presentations in remote or resource-limited settings.
Infectious Disease in Underserved Regions | 26 minutes
An overview of common infectious disease fundamentals in resource-limited settings and a review of conditions that may be rare in developed nations but commonly encountered in medical aid settings, with an emphasis on clinical diagnoses. Participants should gain confidence in approaching the diagnosis and treatment of a variety of specific infectious disease issues.
Ophthalmology & Dental Care | 56 minutes
An overview of ophthalmology and dental burden in mission settings, and empiric approaches to these issues in rural primary care. Ophthalmology and oral health indicators for clinical diagnosis of systemic disease, ocular parasites in developing regions, visual assessment algorithms, managing squints, and ophthalmologic exams as clinical indicators for HIV status are included. Special dental considerations for developing region aid work are also discussed. Participants should gain confidence and competence in managing ophthalmologic and oral health issues in unfamiliar, resource-limited settings and improve their effectiveness on mission trips.
Nutrition | 37 minutes
Review of the principles of nutrition in health care applications, especially as applied to resource-limited settings and the non-medical management of chronic disease. Includes a review of common mal-nutritive conditions encountered in mission settings and the barriers to nutrition in developing regions. Participants gain competence in assessing acute and chronic nutritional status in resource-limited populations, recognizing and managing nutritional deficiencies, and utilizing recourse-limited nutritional knowledge to improve patient outcomes.
Mental Health in Resource-Limited Settings | 65 minutes
A summary of mental health in mission settings. Burdens of mental illness in the developing world are highlighted, as well as common barriers to effective care. Specific mental health conditions common to mission settings are reviewed, as well as conditions that require different approaches in resource-limited settings. Participants should gain increased confidence and competence in approaching mental health issues in tropical and developing settings.
Geriatrics and End of Life Care | 56 minutes
The burden of geriatric conditions in developing regions is reviewed, and a resource-limited approach to geriatric and end-of-life care is discussed. Non-pharmaceutical strategies, especially for palliative care, are emphasized. Handling of patient deaths in different cultural contexts is included. Participants should gain greater awareness of the scope of approaches to geriatric and end-of-life issues in mission settings.