Characteristics of International Rotations for Undergraduate Medical Education at United States Medical Schools: A National Study.

Although international rotations are common in medical education, they are not positioned as core academic programming within medical schools. This leads to challenges in planning, implementation, and evaluation, and immense variation in rotation components across medical programs. Future research should explore best practices for pre-departure preparation, post-travel debriefing, and evaluation of student activity as well as impact on the host site. Additional research should include exploration of unique benefits of international versus domestic sites, and aspects of sustainable partnerships between medical schools and host communities.