Why teach international health? A view from the more developed part of the world

In spite of significant interest in international health on the part of many health professionals, only a small percentage of medical schools in North America offer any formal curriculum in international health, defined as the study of global and cross-cultural health issues. This article, written from the North American perspective but applied to the more developed parts of our world generally, outlines several important reasons for including these issues in a medical school curriculum. Relevant topics for such a programme include traveller's health, our increasingly cross-cultural population, our moral imperative to serve the underserved both at home and abroad, the need for research and mutual learning with our colleagues in other cultural settings, and the value of a global perspective on health care issues. We are all now global citizens.