SynthesisAmerican journal of public health2014
Short-term medical service trips: a systematic review of the evidence.
Synthesis in American journal of public health, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 80 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
80 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Patient Follow-up After Orthopaedic Outreach Trips - Do We Know Whether Patients are Improving?World journal of surgery · 2022Pooled it
- Candidate Quality Measures for Orthopaedic Surgery Outreach Trips: A Systematic Review.The Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons · 2021Pooled it
- Development of a theoretical framework for assessment of quality of primary care medical service trips in Latin America.International journal of public health · 2019Pooled it
- Impact of short-term reconstructive surgical missions: a systematic review.BMJ global health · 2019Pooled it
- The ethical experiences of trainees on short-term international trips: a systematic qualitative synthesis.BMC medical education · 2018Pooled it
- International short-term medical missions: a systematic review of recommended practices.International journal of public health · 2017Pooled it
- A systematic review of social, economic and diplomatic aspects of short-term medical missions.BMC health services research · 2015Pooled it
- A model for global health education through the Ethiopian newborn quality improvement ECHO initiative.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2026Article
- Establishing a sustainable urology program in northern Guatemala: an implementation report from El Petén (2024-2025).International urology and nephrology · 2026Article
- Delivering Multidisciplinary Cardiac Care in Conflict Zones: A Cardiology Mission to Homs, Syria.Journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions · 2026Article
- "We will get to…assist the staff of the hospital": comparatively exploring the motivations of pre-medical and medical students from Global North countries for seeking to participate in Ghanaian medical missions.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Beyond Good Intentions: A Justice-Based Critique of Short-Term Medical Missions.Journal of religion and health · 2026Article
- Improving medical missions: A student and trainee tool for ethical engagement.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Development and implementation of an electronic health record system for use in humanitarian emergencies, disaster response, and conflict zones.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Ethics in Global Plastic Surgery Missions.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2024Article
- Exploration of the Determinants of Subjective Health and Depression Using Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging Data.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Factors Associated With Lack of Long-Term Follow-Up Data After Global Cardiac Surgery Missions.World journal for pediatric & congenital heart surgery · 2024Article
- The World's consumption of free web-based Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery educational resources: A global assessment of video usage trends.Laryngoscope investigative otolaryngology · 2024Article
- Defining humanitarian surgery: international consensus in global surgery.The British journal of surgery · 2024Article
- Political economics in health and implications for neurosurgery diseases.Frontiers in public health · 2024Review
20 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Short-term medical service trips (MSTs) aim to address unmet health care needs of low- and middle-income countries. The lack of critically reviewed empirical evidence of activities and outcomes is a concern. Developing evidence-based recommendations for health care delivery requires systematic research review. I focused on MST publications with empirical results. Searches in May 2013 identified 67 studies published since 1993, only 6% of the published articles on the topic in the past 20 years. Nearly 80% reported on surgical trips. Although the MST field is growing, its medical literature lags behind, with nearly all of the scholarly publications lacking significant data collection. By incorporating data collection into service trips, groups can validate practices and provide information about areas needing improvement.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.