Everyone Is Harmed When Clinicians Aren't Prepared

Abstract

War and conflict are now common, lingering like an endemic disease in most countries of the Global South. Population displacement, infectious disease outbreaks, food and water shortages, damage to infrastructure, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress are among the phenomena to which clinicians are expected to respond as professionals. Yet curricula in health professions do not prepare trainees to cultivate the skills needed to develop intervention pathways to meet the needs of populations in conflict zones. This article argues that decolonization of curricula in health professions is key to preparing clinicians to respond with care and competence to vulnerabilities and disease burden exacerbated by conflict.