Pre-exchange training - Developing ethical and cultural competencies in medical students.

The International Federation of Medical Students' Associations (IFMSA) organizes over 15,000 international medical exchanges per year in over 100 countries. In the past, there was no standardized Pre-Departure Training (PDT) for participants. A PDT is important to protect patient safety and prepare students for their exchange. To determine whether a two-hour case-based Pre-Departure Training can increase self-reported level of comfort on competencies in basic medical ethics, cultural competence, research ethics, and recognizing the limits of one's level of skill in medical students. In 2017, the PDT was implemented in nine countries for medical students prior to their IFMSA exchange. Participants self-evaluated their competencies in an online questionnaire before and after the PDT. 234 students from 32 countries completed the pre-PDT evaluation and 104 completed both evaluations. Participants demonstrated statistically significant improvements in self-reported competencies in 16 out of 18 items including voicing lack of skill to a supervisor ( < 0.001) and recognizing personal cultural biases ( < 0.001). A case-based PDT can improve participants' self-reported comfort in treating patients from different cultural backgrounds and help maintain high ethical standards abroad. The PDT was implemented at large within IFMSA in 2018.