Wassef David W, Holler Jordan T, Pinner April, Challa Sravya, Xiong Meng, Zhao Caixia, Sabharwal Sanjeev
Department of Orthopaedics, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ.
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, CA.
J Orthop Trauma. 2018 Oct;32 Suppl 7:S29-S34. doi: 10.1097/BOT.0000000000001297.
Our goal was to compare the perceptions of overseas orthopaedic volunteers and their hosts in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) regarding the role of international volunteerism. We also sought to determine if differences in perception exist between trainee and fully trained orthoapedic surgeon volunteers.
Surveys with similar multiple-choice and open-ended questions were administered to 163 Health Volunteers Overseas orthopaedic volunteers (response rate 45%) and 53 members of the host orthopaedic staff (response rate 40%). Fifty-four volunteers and 20 hosts also contributed open-ended responses. Quantitative responses were analyzed for significance using Mantel-Haenzel χ tests. Open-ended responses were coded using thematic analysis.
Both the international volunteers and their LMIC hosts agreed that volunteers learned new skills while volunteering. Both groups believed that international volunteerism had a positive overall impact on the local practice, but hosts viewed these benefits more favorably than volunteers did. LMIC staff believed that, besides altruistic reasons, volunteers were also motivated by professional gains, diverging from volunteer responses. In open-ended responses, hosts desired longer term commitments from volunteers and had some concerns regarding volunteers' qualifications. Between volunteer trainees and fully trained surgeons, trainees were more likely to be motivated by personal benefits.
Efforts must be made to further align the expectations and goals of volunteers and their hosts in LMICs. Certain measures such as predeparture orientations for volunteers and developing a more longitudinal and bidirectional experience may enhance the impact of orthopaedic volunteerism in LMICs. Further studies are needed to explore the impact of international orthopaedic volunteerism on the host population.
我们的目标是比较海外骨科志愿者及其在低收入和中等收入国家（LMICs）的接待方对于国际志愿服务作用的看法。我们还试图确定实习骨科外科医生志愿者和完全培训合格的骨科外科医生志愿者在看法上是否存在差异。
对163名海外健康志愿者骨科志愿者（回复率45%）和53名接待方骨科工作人员（回复率40%）进行了包含类似多项选择题和开放式问题的调查。54名志愿者和20名接待方人员也提供了开放式回复。使用Mantel-Haenzel χ检验对定量回复进行显著性分析。使用主题分析法对开放式回复进行编码。
国际志愿者及其在低收入和中等收入国家的接待方都认为志愿者在志愿服务期间学到了新技能。两组都认为国际志愿服务对当地医疗实践产生了积极的总体影响，但接待方比志愿者更看好这些益处。低收入和中等收入国家的工作人员认为，除了利他原因外，志愿者还受到职业收获的激励，这与志愿者的回复不同。在开放式回复中，接待方希望志愿者做出更长期的承诺，并对志愿者的资质有些担忧。在志愿者实习生和完全培训合格的外科医生之间，实习生更可能受到个人利益的激励。
必须努力使低收入和中等收入国家志愿者及其接待方的期望和目标更加一致。某些措施，如为志愿者提供出发前培训，以及打造更具持续性和双向性的体验，可能会增强骨科志愿服务在低收入和中等收入国家的影响。需要进一步研究来探讨国际骨科志愿服务对接待人群的影响。
