ABSTRACT
Student involvement in global health is expanding beyond clinical activities and students in disciplines beyond medicine are participating in greater numbers. More high income country (HIC) students now participate in research in low and middle income countries (LMICs), ranging from small student-initiated research projects, to year-long research internships with international organisations and assistantships on large faculty-led studies. The very inequities that global health practitioners seek to address are recognised as a source of ethical challenges when HIC researchers work in LMICs. The ethical challenges health professional students face in low income settings have been discussed in medical literature over the past two decades. The broader ethical frameworks described for global health are rightfully reflected in ethics guidelines for clinical electives, but those for student research have been less thoroughly addressed. Pinto and Ross highlight the potential for power imbalance between HIC and LMIC research partners, and encourage students to be critical of such dynamics.
