This workshop includes a number of case presentations, which were events reported to us from multiple sources over our years of medical missions service. It is also our desire to review some of the problems caused by mission teams so we can mitigate the potential harm teams can do while working in communities. The idea of potential harm resulting from medical missions may be difficult for some to grasp; but it does exist and in a much more real way than most of us care to acknowledge.
Short-term medical missions often destroy community confidence in the local health system. Working through true case presentations we demonstrate how medical mission teams can cause harm in communities. These case presentations also show how the local medical community can be negatively impacted by mission teams. We then work through medical mission strategies that aid and support local health providers.
