Advance directives, substituted judgment, and the best-interest standard all have limitations that constrain their usefulness in making medical decisions for patients who cannot choose for themselves.
Advance directives do not always resolve questions about the best care for patients who no longer have decision-making capacity; physicians and patient surrogates can take alternative approaches to arrive at the best care decision.
Kym Ahrens, MD, MPH, F. Bruder Stapleton, MD, and Maneesh Batra, MD, MPH
The University of Washington Pediatric Residency Program Experience in Global Health and Community Health and Advocacy embodies essential principles of successful short-term rotations from academic medical centers to resource-limited countries.