Intercultural experiential learning through international internships: The case of medical education

From 1971 to 2000, 2,500 medical students at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health participated in a clinical internship program. Of these interns 231 worked in international settings and the rest participated in domestic internships. In 2002, a survey focusing on the participants' perceptions of their intercultural sensitivity development and other aspects of the experience was mailed to all alumni of the international internship program and a stratified sample of domestic interns, yielding a return rate of 81% of the international interns and 55% of the domestic interns. Survey data was quantitative and qualitative in nature and demonstrated that international interns were significantly more likely to say that they developed intercultural sensitivity as a result of the internships than domestic interns. International interns were also more likely to demonstrate intercultural competency in medical practice in terms of their career and volunteer choices as well as their intercultural skills in working with patients from different cultural backgrounds.;Chi-square and Cramer's V analyses described differences between the international and domestic interns. Multinomial logistic regression was used to construct models of personal and program characteristics that could be used to predict which students are more likely to participate in an international internship. Categorical Principal Components Analysis (CatPCA) was used to construct indices of intercultural sensitivity and intercultural competence in medical practice in order to evaluate the participants' perceptions of the outcome of their internships. Qualitative analyses of participants' narrative comments provided a more nuanced perspective on their experiences and demonstrated the life-long impact of the international internship.;The study findings that international interns were more likely to demonstrate intercultural competence in medical practice may indicate that medical students who participate in an internship abroad are better suited to work with a diverse patient population in the U.S. than their peers who have less intercultural experience. The focus on intercultural sensitivity and intercultural competence in medical practice sets the current study apart from the more broadly conceptualized literature about international internships in medical education. Bringing theoretical perspectives from within and outside of medical education to bear on the study further establishes its place in this literature, which does not draw as extensively upon theory. The literature about medical education for intercultural sensitivity and intercultural competence in medical practice does not consider intercultural internships. Although internships should not take the place of this curriculum, this study confirms that internships have a place within this curriculum.