This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This book investigates what international placements of healthcare employees in low resource settings add to the UK workforce and the efficacy of its national health system. The authors present empirical data collected from a volunteer deployment project in Uganda focused on reducing maternal and new-born mortality and discuss the learning and experiential outcomes for UK health care professionals acting as long term volunteers in low resource settings. They also develop a model for structured placement that offers optimal learning and experiential outcomes and minimizes risk, while shedding new light on the role that international placements play as part of continuing professional development both in the UK and in other sending countries.

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This book examines the current state of elective placements of medical undergraduate students in developing countries and their impact on health care education at home. Drawing from a recent case study of volunteer deployment in Uganda, the authors provide an in-depth evaluation of the impacts on the students themselves and the learning outcomes associated with placements in low resource settings, as well as the impacts that these forms of student mobility have on the host settings. In addition to reviewing the existing literature on elective placements, the authors outline a potential model for the future development of ethical elective placements. As the book concurs with an increasing international demand for elective placements, it will be of immediate interest to universities, intermediary organizations, students as consumers, and hosting organisations in low-resource settings.

This book is open access under a CC BY license. This book explores the impact that professional volunteers have on the low resource countries they choose to spend time in. Whilst individual volunteering may be of immediate benefit to individual patients, this intervention may have detrimental effects on local health systems; distorting labour markets, accentuating dependencies and creating opportunities for corruption. Improved volunteer deployment may avoid these risks and present opportunities for sustainable systems change. The empirical research presented in this book stems from a specific volunteering intervention funded by the Tropical Health Education Trust and focused on improving maternal and newborn health in Uganda. However, important opportunities exist for policy transfer to other contexts.