Evaluation of the effectiveness of the Global Medical Student Partnership program in undergraduate medical education: Évaluation de l’efficacité du programme Global Medical Student Partnership dans les études de médecine de premier cycle

Background The Global Medical Student Partnership (GMSP) is a medical student-led international initiative to promote accessible global health learning. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the GMSP program in meeting its learning objectives. Methods Canadian and international medical student pairs met online monthly (January-May 2018) to discuss global health-related medical cases. Students then reviewed cases with local GMSP peers and faculty experts. A mixed-methods study was performed to evaluate whether the objectives of the program had been achieved. 26 of 32 (81.3%) students completed a questionnaire, and 13 (40.6%) also participated in one-on-one semi-structured interviews. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used to analyze students\u0027 perspectives on skill development through GMSP. Results GMSP students agreed or strongly agreed that international collaboration and communication skills were more important to them following program participation (92.3%, 92.3% respectively). Many expressed that after GMSP, they knew more about their healthcare system, practices abroad and how to solve complex health issues (92.3%, 84.6%, 61.5% respectively). Qualitative data showed GMSP improved students\u0027 communication and presentation skills, provided a foundation for international relationships, fostered appraisal of diverse health systems, and furthered students\u0027 understanding of health advocacy. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate that GMSP met its original objectives by providing students with opportunities to engage in international collaborations and to further develop their skills in advocacy, communication, and health-systems research. This program may be an important addition to medical education as it makes use of technology and peer-to-peer exchange to enable global health learning.