Twelve tips for undertaking reflexive global health experiences in medicine.

BACKGROUND: While interest and opportunities for global health experiences (GHE) continue to grow, the preparation of students and health professionals alike to engage in these GHEs remains limited.

AIMS: This article provides tips for reflexivity prior to undertaking a GHE and suggests ways to debrief the experience in order to ensure that trainees and professionals that engage in GHEs can both help their intended communities and also get the most out of the experience.

METHODS: The authors conducted a scoping review using Medline, PubMed and Google scholar using searching the terms: global health, global health experience, global health research, and international medical elective. We supplemented this search with our own experiences working with international partners.

CONCLUSIONS: GHEs should be undertaken with reflexivity prior to, during and subsequent to the experience in order to ensure that all collaborators in the partnership meet their intended goals.