Cultural competency training has an impact

Regardless of how it's taught, doctors gain knowledge and skills through educational interventions, researchers say.

By Myrle Croasdale, AMNews staff. June 20, 2005.

It doesn't matter whether it's a continuing medical education lecture on cultural competency or a class on medical Spanish. Cultural competency training of any sort makes a difference in physicians' knowledge, skills and attitudes, according to a pair of studies from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine researchers. It also means patients will be more satisfied with their care.

"The study didn't tell us what the most effective thing to do is, but our study did show that any time you try to bring cultural issues to peoples' awareness, they are better off," said Mary Catherine Beach, MD, MPH, lead author of "Cultural Competence: A Systematic Review of Health Care Provider Educational Interventions" in the April issue of Medical Care.

"This has impacted how I teach students," she said. "I now feel if I bring it up [to medical students] it will actually make a difference."

Dr. Beach and her co-authors sifted through more than 4,000 studies to find 281 relating to cultural competency training. From this they culled 34 studies on cultural competency interventions, most with pre- and post-intervention evaluations, that targeted physicians or nurses and took place in the United States.

The literature review found that 17 of 19 studies evaluating the health professional's knowledge of cultural concepts showed improvement.