Cross-cultural medical education: can patient-centered cultural competency training be effective in non-Western countries?

Abstract

Background: No evidence addresses the effectiveness of patient-centered cultural competence training in non-Western settings.

Aims: To examine whether a patient-centered cultural competency curriculum improves medical students' skills in eliciting the patients' perspective and exploring illness-related social factors.

Method: Fifty-seven medical students in Taiwan were randomly assigned to either the control (n = 27) or one of two intervention groups: basic (n = 15) and extensive (n = 15). Both intervention groups received two 2-hour patient-centered cultural competency workshops. In addition, the extensive intervention group received a 2-hour practice session. The control group received no training.

Results: At the end of the clerkship, all students were evaluated with an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). Students in the extensive intervention group scored significantly higher than the basic intervention and control groups in eliciting the patient's perspective (F = 18.38, p < 0.001, eta(2) = 0.40). Scores of both intervention groups were significantly higher than the control group in the exploring social factors (F = 6.66, p = 0.003, eta(2) = 0.20).

Conclusion: Patient-centered cultural competency training can produce improvement in medical students' cross-cultural communication skills in non-Western settings, especially when adequate practice is provided.