Amsa Ad Lib

Does being out of your context mean being out of your depth? The school year has come to a close, and for many future physicians, with summer comes an abroad experience. On AMSA ad lib, we’ve heard about picking a responsible study abroad program. But what happens when you are already in the middle of your experience and you find yourself in a tight spot, ethically? Or--maybe more likely--you aren’t sure about what you are seeing. Sometimes, even when you don’t realize it, these questions may spring from your own inexperience. Differences in populations and resources make a big difference in how medicine is practiced outside the United States, and if you have an open mind, that’s the whole point of having a training experience outside your normal context.