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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, η2 = 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, η2 = 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.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Ming-Jung Ho
MING-JUNG HO is Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Medicine, National Taiwan Unversity.
Grace Yao
GRACE YAO is Professor in the Department of Psychology, National Taiwan Unversity.
Keng-Lin Lee
KENG-LIN LEE is PhD candidate in the Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University.
Mary Catherine Beach
MARY CATHERINE BEACH is Assistant professor in the Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University
Alexander R. Green
ALEXANDER R. GREEN is Associate Director in the Disparities Solutions Center, Massachusetts General Hospital