Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Dec 7;16(1):682.
doi: 10.1186/s12913-016-1929-x.

Demographic profile of physician participants in short-term medical missions

Paul H Caldron  1 , Ann Impens  2 , Milena Pavlova  3 , Wim Groot  4
Affiliations

Demographic profile of physician participants in short-term medical missions

Paul H Caldron et al. BMC Health Serv Res. .

Abstract

Background: The US is the leading sending country for short term medical missions (STMMs), an unregulated and unsanctioned, grass roots form of direct medical service aid from richer countries to low and middle income countries. The objective of this study is to profile US physicians who go on such missions by means of a survey sample of the US physician population.

Methods: An online survey solicited information on physician participation in STMMS as well as demographic and professional features. Responses were descriptively tabulated and multivariate regressions were performed to model for physician profiles related to STMM participation.

Results: Physician participants in STMMs are more likely to be a surgeon, anesthesiologist or pediatrician, married with few or no children at home, later in their career and have an income of $200-250 K.

Conclusions: Specialty is the strongest predictor of participation. STMM participation does not differ by race, ethnicity nor religion. Descriptive statistics further provide a limited profile of participants. Direct expenses may have less influence on participation than opportunity costs. Potential clues about motivation that may be inferred from the features of the profile are discussed.

Keywords: Demographics; Medical missions; Short-term; Volunteerism.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Mission focus by category
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Reasons for primary non-participation in STMMs (N-354)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Number of children at home at time of STMM
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Frequency distribution - Income at time of STMM
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Martiniuk ALC, Manouchehrian M, Negin JA, Zwi AB. Brain gains: a literature review of medical missions to low and middle-income countries. BMC Health Serv Res. 2012;12:134. doi: 10.1186/1472-6963-12-134. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Shrime MG, Sleemi A, Ravilla TD. Charitable Platforms in Global Surgery: A Systematic Review of their Effectiveness, Cost-Effectiveness, Sustainability, and Role Training. World J. Surg. [Internet]. 2014 [cited 2014 Jun 11]; Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24682278 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sykes KJ. Short-Term Medical Service Trips: A Systematic Review of the Evidence. Am. J. Public Health [Internet]. 2014 [cited 2014 May 31];1–11. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24832401 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Caldron PH, Impens A, Pavlova M, Groot W. A systematic review of social, economic and diplomatic aspects of short-term medical missions. BMC Health Serv Res. 2015;15:380. doi: 10.1186/s12913-015-0980-3. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. McGinigle KL, Milano PM, Rich PB, Viera AJ. Volunteerism among surgeons: an exploration of attitudes and barriers. Am J Surg. 2008;196:300–4. doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2007.10.015. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources