Students whose behaviour causes concern: Am I my brother's keeper?

doi:10.1136/bmj.a2875

Published 29 December 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a2875
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a2875

Analysis

Ethical Debate

Students whose behaviour causes concern: Am I my brother’s keeper?

Moses Galukande, lecturer

¹ Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

mosesg@img.co.ug

What should you do when you see a fellow student behaving inappropriately?After a group of students wrote to the BMJ about their experienceduring an elective (doi:10.1136/bmj.a2874), we sought the opinionsof an ethicist (doi:10.1136/bmj.a2882), a dean (doi:10.1136/bmj.a2884),a GMC representative (doi:10.1136/bmj.a2876), and a lecturerfrom an African university

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

It is increasingly important for future healthcare professionalsto understand and experience health in a global context.¹ ²Many medical schools and colleges in the developed nations havean international elective as part of their training. Increasingnumbers of students opt to spend this time in resource limitedcountries in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and South America.

Students’ experiences from such electives are mostly positive³⁴: hands on experience is usually unprecedented; the range ofillness is different; more advanced disease states are encountered.The resources available are mostly basic or absent, making itmore interesting and challenging for students.

The doctors or supervisors under which the students work areoften overwhelmed by clinical and administration work and arenot available to monitor every move of the students. Indeed,the presence of students is often a welcome relief for supervisors,though this is countered by the need to demonstrate, explain,and supervise. . . . [Full text of this article]

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