Global health (GH) training is well established overseas (particularly in North America) and reflects an increasing focus on social accountability in medical education. Despite significant interest among trainees, GH is poorly integrated with specialty training programs in Australia. While there are numerous benefits from international rotations in resource-poor settings, there are also risks to the host community, trainee and training provider. Safe and effective placements rely on firm ethical foundations as well as strong and durable partnerships between Australian and overseas health services, educational institutions and GH agencies. More formal systems of GH training in Australia have the potential to produce fellows with the skills and knowledge necessary to engage in regional health challenges in a global context.

Open data and data sharing are essential for maximizing the benefits that can be obtained from institutional and research datasets [1]. In 2012, the medical humanitarian organization Me´decins Sans Frontieres (MSF) decided to adopt a data sharing policy for routinely collected clinical and research data (http://www.msf.org.uk/msf-data-sharing). Here we describe the policy’s principles, practicalities,and development process. We hope this paper will encourage and help other humanitarian and nongovernmental organizations to share their data with public health researchers for the benefit of the populations with which they work.