%0 Journal Article
%T "That never would have occurred to me": a qualitative study of medical students' views of a cultural competence curriculum
%A Johanna Shapiro
%A Desiree Lie
%A David Gutierrez
%A Gabriella Zhuang
%J BMC Medical Education
%D 2006
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1472-6920-6-31
%X We conducted three focus groups with medical students in their first year of clinical training to assess their perceptions of the cultural competence curriculum at a public university school of medicine.Students evaluated the informal curriculum as a more important source of learning about cultural competence than the formal curriculum. In terms of bias in both self and others, the cultural competence curriculum increased awareness, but was less effective in teaching specific interventional skills. Students also noted that the cultural competence curriculum did not always sufficiently help them find a balance between group-specific knowledge and respect for individual differences. Despite some concerns as to whether political correctness characterized the cultural competence curriculum, it was also seen as a way to rehumanize the medical education experience.Future research needs to pay attention to issues such as perceived relevance, stereotyping, and political correctness in developing cross-cultural training programs.Cultural competency instruction in medical education has been the thrust of several recent reports in the US and the UK [1-3]. Evidence is growing that improving cross-cultural communication skills in healthcare providers is associated with better patient outcomes [4,5] and has the potential to reduce health disparities [6] and improve access to care [4]. However, a recent systematic review evaluating cultural competence training of health professionals concluded that lack of methodological rigor made it difficult to draw conclusions regarding the effectiveness of specific educational interventions [7].Attitudes of students toward diversity training are equivocal, although survey-type methodologies tend to report positive attitudes toward diversity training [8,9]. In another study, residents lamented their lack of "formal" education on this topic, and felt they were poorly prepared to deal with cross-cultural clinical encounters [10]. Similarly, a di
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6920/6/31