AMA Journal of Ethics

Inequity makes it imperative to consider how trade and patent policies influence international patients’ access to treatment and prevention.

Mortality rates for breast cancer are higher where treatments are unavailable and unaffordable. Though less effective, breast examination could be a good screening approach.

Two photographs of caregivers walking through a Honduran jungle to visit patients in their homes literally and figuratively represent barriers to health care access.

Single-procedure interventions with minimal follow-up and clear quality-of-life gain are well suited for surgical mission trips. But not all risks and benefits are easily assessed.

The Volunteer Physicians for Vietnam Program (1966-1973) influenced both physicians-in-training and the environments in which they were immersed.

Low-resource areas are heterogeneous and changing, so establishing an evidence base for decision making about technology use is an important priority.

Practices changed when hospitals became places of recovery rather than death.

The AMA Council on Medical Service matched physicians seeking practice locations with neighborhoods in need.

Physicians play important roles in community development when they seek to increase patients’ overall well-being through community engagement.

Farmworkers can become ill due to toxic exposure in their work environments. Recommending specific restrictions, educating patients on protection strategies, and partnering with agribusiness owners and allied health workers can drive development of alternatives to agricultural practices with health risks.