General internal medicine and technologically less developed countries

Abstract

Objective:To assess the international health activities of departments of medicine, divisions of general medicine, and general medicine faculty and the interest among departments of medicine in joint international health ventures.

Design:15-item, mailed questionnaire.

Participants:100 chiefs of divisions of general medicine associated with training programs in internal medicine.

Interventions:None.

Measurements and main results:Completed questionnaires were returned by 87 division chiefs representing 1,355 general medicine faculty. 49% of divisions had faculty with six weeks’ experience in less developed countries. 8.5% of general medicine faculty had six weeks’ experience in less developed countries. 7.6% of general medicine faculty were interested in spending extended time in less developed countries. 19% of departments had formal collaborations with schools in less developed countries. 45% of departments were interested in affiliations with U.S. institutions for the purpose of joint international health ventures.