Content Resources

Spiritual Survival Tips for Short-Term Medical Missions Team

A basic overview of the human trafficking situation and the health consequences of human trafficking will be provided. Many opportunities already exist for health professionals to become involved against trafficking. For those at this conference looking to be involved on the front lines of injustice around the world, organizations and health professionals will assess the efforts already being made, how to get more involved, and what still needs to be done.The volume of aid resources doesn matter as much as the implementation philosophy that the aid is being channeled into. The old adage that ideas have consequences is quite true untested and shallow ideas often have negative consequences on those that are being served. This session will explore the difference between a dependency philosophy and an empowering strategy, and these ideas will be shared in such a way to be applied to any aid related work.

Historically, the practice of medicine in the mission setting has been stereotyped as involving a single doctor involved in direct patient care from dawn until dusk, caring for a myriad of different conditions. Little attention was given, in many situations, to the academic pursuits of teaching and research. This workshop will strive, in an interactive fashion, to discuss the merits of adjusting our paradigm of missions medicine to involve the pursuits of training of national staff and developing local programs of medical research (along with spiritual discipleship) which will allow for long-term change to be realized in the pursuit of providing quality, sustainable medical care in a Christ-like fashion.

Finding appropriate medical resources for your mission project is a challenge. This session will explain how to evaluate medical projects, determine what specific equipment is needed, and how to find the resources to meet those needs.