Empowerment, Ethics and Intercultural Competence in Short-Term Medical Missions in the Dominican Republic
Abstract
While the Dominican healthcare system has recently been lauded by USAID for strides
in more efficient patient care, the day-to-day experiences of patients, doctors and
other healthcare providers in a small community in San Pedro de Macoris reflect a
different reality. With a public system that inefficient and chaotic and a private
system that is often too expensive for poorer Dominicans to access, short-term medical
missions (STMMs) have filled a niche in Dominican healthcare. In my thesis, I discuss
a specific model of STMMs that involves students and faculty from a U.S. pharmacy
school traveling to the Dominican Republic for 7-10 days in order to host ambulatory
clinics in conjunction with local doctors in barrios around San Pedro de Macoris.
In addition to examining the ethical implications of these STMMs in terms of religion,
language and intercultural competence, I address questions of agency, empowerment
and privilege.
Type
Honors thesisDepartment
Romance StudiesPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/7028Citation
Gravier, Anna (2013). Empowerment, Ethics and Intercultural Competence in Short-Term Medical Missions in
the Dominican Republic. Honors thesis, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/7028.Collections
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