Planning a Pharmacy-Led Medical Mission Trip, Part 2: Servant Leadership and Team Dynamics

Abstract

This article, focusing on servant leadership and team dynamics, examines the concept of servant leadership as part of medical missions' efforts and provides suggestions for team building, both before and during the mission trip, and is the second in a 4-part series on pharmacist-led medical mission trips. The third article, “Development and Implementation of an Elective Medical Missions Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) Rotation,” focuses on developing an elective APPE for international and domestic medical missions, including provision of products. Part 4, “An Exploratory Study of Student Experiences,” is an evaluation of data collected from both APPE and non-APPE student participants on Gregory School of Pharmacy mission trips during the summer of 2011. Specifically, it examines the issue of professionalism and the personal impact that mission trips may have on pharmacy students.While pharmacy curricula can prepare students for the cognitive domains of pharmacy practice, mastery of the affective aspects can prove to be more challenging. At the Gregory School of Pharmacy, medical mission trips have been highly effective means of impacting student attitudes and beliefs. Specifically, these trips have led to transformational changes in student leadership capacity, turning an act of service into an act of influence. Additionally, building team unity is invaluable to the overall effectiveness of the trip. Pretrip preparation for teams includes activities such as routine team meetings, team-building activities, and implementation of committees, as a means of promoting positive team dynamics. While in the field, team dynamics can be fostered through activities such as daily debriefing sessions, team disclosure times, and provision of medical services.