2014 MUSC Global Travel: By the Numbers

MUSC faculty, staff, trainees, and students play important roles in the global health arena. From treating pediatric cerebral palsy patients in Ethiopia to building cardiac catheterization programs in Tanzania, the MUSC community is continually changing what’s possible around the world. MUSC recognized the need for travel security and health safeguards to protect employees while they are in the field. On January 9, 2014, MUSC released the MUSC International Travel Policy as part of the university’s comprehensive health and safety protocol program supporting international travel. It provides guidance on appropriate travel procedures for faculty, students, trainees, and staff.

In order to better protect our travelers, the MUSC Center for Global Health partnered with International SOS—a worldwide leader in global medical assistance and security services—to provide travelers assistance in pre-travel preparations, including detailed country reports on culture, security, visa, and vaccination requirements, transportation, climate, telephone advice and referrals, lost document assistance, translations, and up to full-scale evacuations in the event of a medical or security emergency.

The MUSC International Travel Policy requires all members of the university to register their travel with International SOS’s MyTrips application, which gives university officials and International SOS responders the ability to pinpoint where individuals are and how to best assist them in the case of an emergency.

The Numbers
Since the MUSC International Travel Policy was implemented in January, 265 faculty, staff, trainees and students have registered trips to 44 countries across the globe. Below is a breakdown of travel by university designation (faculty, student, trainee, and staff) and college/department (Medicine, Health Professions, Dental Medicine, etc.).

Faculty 107

Dental 6
Graduate Studies 1
Health Professions 2
Medicine 88
MUHA 3
Nursing 2
Pharmacy 5

Staff 7

Dental 2
Medicine 4
Other 1

Students 137

Dental 50
Graduate Studies 5
Health Professions 40
Medicine 29
Nursing 1
Pharmacy 12

Trainee 14

Dental 1
Health Professions 1
Medicine 12

Grand Total 265

To date, the MUSC community has collectively traveled for a total of 2,630 days. The majority of travel took place during the month of May, with a total of 79 trips. Of these 79 trips, 60 percent have been taken by students, which is likely due to spring and summer breaks in the curriculum. Anecdotal evidence suggests that year-to-year, the majority of students plan and participate in global trips between March and June. Overall, members of the MUSC community are currently traveling for an average of 10 days.

(July trips aren't included in the below graph)

The top five countries visited for clinical, research, or fieldwork out of all 44 countries traveled are:

1) Uganda, 14%
2) Ecuador, 12%
3) Canada, 7%
4) Tanzania, 6%
5) Spain, 5%

Percentage of MUSC Travelers by Destination Region:

Americas 43%
Europe & CIS 25%
Africa 23%
Asia & the Pacific 6%
Middle East & North Africa 3%

MUSC is increasing its global presence every day. In order to successfully track, report and showcase the impacting work being done by the MUSC community around the world, you must register your qualified travel on International SOS by visiting the following link: https://mytrips.travelsecurity.com/Login.aspx?ci=%2bdOIPuYh4Ew%3d