Relan Pryanka, Yiu Kristy C Y, Lin Henry C, Loh Lawrence C
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21202, USA.
Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
J Trop Med. 2018 Oct 2;2018:5629109. doi: 10.1155/2018/5629109. eCollection 2018.
The global health development community is increasingly examining the phenomenon of short-term experiences in global health (STEGH), with an aim to mitigate the negative impacts of such activities on host communities. Appropriate supervision is one strategy, but various barriers (e.g., institutional requirements) limit the availability of qualified supervisors. Remote supervision represents one potential model to provide supervision that may mitigate the negative impacts of STEGH. This paper reports observed outcomes from a description of a pilot remote supervision program employed in a global health program for Canadian undergraduate students. Benefits for learners included greater confidence and independence, greater perceived effectiveness in conducting their project abroad, and reassurance of remote support from their supervisor, supplemented with day-to-day guidance from the local partner. Host communities reported greater trust in the bidirectional nature of partnership with the visiting institution, empowerment through directing students' work, and improved alignment of projects with community needs. Finally, faculty noted that remote supervision provided greater flexibility and freedom when compared to traditional in-person supervision, allowing them to maintain professional duties at home. Collectively, this pilot suggests that remote supervision demonstrates a potential solution to mitigating the harms of STEGHs undertaken by learners by providing adequate and appropriate remote supervision.
全球卫生发展界越来越多地审视全球卫生短期经历（STEGH）这一现象，旨在减轻此类活动对东道社区的负面影响。适当的监督是一种策略，但各种障碍（如机构要求）限制了合格监督员的可获得性。远程监督是一种潜在的模式，可提供监督，减轻STEGH的负面影响。本文报告了在一个面向加拿大本科生的全球卫生项目中采用的试点远程监督项目的观察结果。对学习者的好处包括更大的信心和独立性、在国外开展项目时更高的感知有效性，以及来自监督员的远程支持的保证，并辅以当地合作伙伴的日常指导。东道社区报告说，对与来访机构的伙伴关系的双向性质有了更大的信任，通过指导学生的工作获得了赋权，并且项目与社区需求的契合度得到了改善。最后，教师指出，与传统的面对面监督相比，远程监督提供了更大的灵活性和自由度，使他们能够在国内履行专业职责。总体而言，这个试点表明，远程监督通过提供充分和适当的远程监督，展示了减轻学习者进行的STEGH危害的潜在解决方案。
