Preparing medical graduates who are competent to work in a global environment requires broad integration of international and intercultural perspectives throughout the medical curriculum. Employing Leask and Bridge’s “conceptual framework of internationalisation of the curriculum,” this article first highlights the emphasis placed on international mobility, global health, and cultural competency as ways to address internationalization of the curriculum within the discipline of medicine. Second, it highlights the influence of national and regional contexts on internationalizing the curriculum by comparing approaches from Germany and Australia. A review of the literature reveals that in spite of some contextual differences, medicine seems to struggle with a disciplinary understanding of an internationalized curriculum that is comprehensive and coherent. This article argues that what is needed instead is a transformative approach to learning and to curriculum development in medicine. Finally, implications for future research and practice are considered.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.