The benefits of international health experiences for Australian and New Zealand medical education.

Despite the emergence and establishment of global health as an academic discipline, it largely resides within public health education and practice, and is typically taught and learnt within Master of Public Health programs, rather than through experiences within mainstream medical education. In Australian and New Zealand medical programs, clinical learning with a global health focus is generally achieved through the inclusion of clinical placement electives that permit student-initiated and organised international health experiences (IHEs). In cases where the IHEs are arranged by the university, they are generally short and optional.