General internal medicine and technologically less developed countries

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Abstract
Objective:To assess the international health activities of departments of medicine, divisions of general medicine, and general medicine faculty and the interest among departments of medicine in joint international health ventures. Design:15-item, mailed questionnaire. Participants:100 chiefs of divisions of general medicine associated with training programs in internal medicine. Interventions:None. Measurements and main results:Completed questionnaires were returned by 87 division chiefs representing 1,355 general medicine faculty. 49% of divisions had faculty with six weeks’ experience in less developed countries. 8.5% of general medicine faculty had six weeks’ experience in less developed countries. 7.6% of general medicine faculty were interested in spending extended time in less developed countries. 19% of departments had formal collaborations with schools in less developed countries. 45% of departments were interested in affiliations with U.S. institutions for the purpose of joint international health ventures. Conclusions:The international health interests of current general medicine faculty may not be satisfied. Departmental and divisional encouragement of international interests would increase the number of U.S. general internists participating in less developed countries. The authors discuss the potential for greater involvement of general medicine faculty in international health.

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