Planning a medical missions trip to another country? Unsure which medications to put on the formulary? Concerned about how to handle malpractice and other regulatory requirements? Looking for inexpensive medication, equipment, and supplies? Need to know what other services would be useful to make available? Wanting to integrate telemedicine?

By Mark D. Harris, MD, MPH, MBA, MDiv, ThM, PhD, DBA

Christ told His disciples to go into all the earth and make disciples of all nations. For millennia, medical care has been a reliable and fruitful way that Christians have obeyed His commands. Medical missions, however, are increasingly fraught with difficulties. Can we make the standard of care in the developing world the same as the developed world? Will we undermine the local medical system and economy by providing treatment that the locals would have otherwise done? What if the locals cannot provide the same standard of care that foreigners can? How can our doctors, often US-based, practice medicine on patients they cannot understand in countries in which they are not licensed?

Sample Formulary

Medications are a large part of clinical medicine. Health care providers do more with medications than just about any other intervention. Patients often expect medication when they walk out. This sample formulary should be modified to meet the needs of the people at the trip location.

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