Ethical Aspects of Collateral Healthcare Services by Non-Credentialed Healthcare Personnel in International Medical Crises

Ethical Aspects of Collateral Healthcare Services by Non-Credentialed Healthcare Personnel in International Medical Crises

The study of global responses to medical crises in developing and under-developed countries demands reflection about the ethical engagement of non-credentialed medical personnel.  The need for, and the desire to contribute by, people and organizations that lack demonstrable or readily transferable credentialed skills must be reconciled with the ethical administration of collateral healthcare services.  It is important to ensure that there is adequate education by supervisory medical doctors and others to ethically leverage the use of non-credentialed medical personnel.  The urgent need for the provision of such services must neither preclude their use nor permit the use irrespective of salient ethical considerations.  And the ideal time to establish policies about the ethical aspects of such engagement is in non-emergent circumstances that are more conducive to unhurried reflection.

Faculty:

Madeleine Schachter, J.D., Assistant Professor of Medical Ethics, Weil Cornell Medical College