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. 2017 Jan 1;1(1):15-22.
doi: 10.1089/heq.2016.0011. eCollection 2017.

Measuring Medical Students' Preparedness and Skills to Provide Cross-Cultural Care

Alexander R Green  1 , Maria B J Chun  2 , Marina C Cervantes  3 , Jacob D Nudel  4 , Jason V Duong  5 , Edward Krupat  6 , Joseph R Betancourt  7
Affiliations

Measuring Medical Students' Preparedness and Skills to Provide Cross-Cultural Care

Alexander R Green et al. Health Equity. .

Abstract

Purpose: Cross-cultural education is an integral and required part of undergraduate medical curricula. However, the teaching of cross-cultural care varies widely and methods of evaluation are lacking. We sought to better understand medical students' perspectives on their own cultural competency across the 4-year curriculum using a validated survey instrument. Methods:We conducted an annual Internet-based survey at Harvard Medical School with students in all 4 years of training, for four consecutive years. We used a tool previously validated with residents and slightly modified it for medical students, assessing their (1) preparedness, (2) skillfulness, and (3) perspectives on the educational curriculum and learning climate. Results: Of 2592 possible survey responses, we received 1561 (60% response rate). Fourth-year students had significantly higher scores than first-year students (p<0.001) for all but one preparedness item (caring for transgender patients) and all but one skillfulness item (identifying ability to read/write English). Less than 50% of students felt adequately prepared/skilled by their fourth year on 8 of 11 preparedness items and 5 of 10 skillfulness items. Lack of practical experience caring for diverse patients was the most frequently cited challenge. Conclusions: While students reported that preparedness and skillfulness to care for culturally diverse patients seem to increase with training, fourth-year students still felt inadequately prepared and skilled in many important aspects of cross-cultural care. Medical schools can use this tool with students to self-assess cultural competency and to help guide enhancements to their curricula focusing on cross-cultural care.

Keywords: cross-cultural care; cultural competency; medical education.

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Conflict of interest statement

No competing financial interests exist.

Figures

<b>FIG. 1.</b>
FIG. 1.
Skillfulness items showing greatest improvement across years of training, Harvard Medical School, 2009–2012.
<b>FIG. 2.</b>
FIG. 2.
Preparedness items showing least improvement across years of training, Harvard Medical School, 2009–2012.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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