A cultural diversity curriculum: combining didactic, problem-solving, and simulated experiences

The development of a cultural diversity curriculum in undergraduate medical education is timely because of the need to communicate with increasing numbers of patients of diverse racial, ethnic, linguistic, and religious backgrounds. The key goals of the Ohio State University College of Medicine curriculum are to: 1) establish the relevancy of cultural diversity training to clinical practice; 2) contrast the impact of non-Anglo and Anglo world views on health behavior; 3) develop basic cultural competency skills; 4) provide insights into the effects of discrimination on minority patients and professionals; and 5) understand some of the complementary medicine practices that patients use. The curriculum employs a combination of didactic lectures and demonstrations, clinical cases and vignettes for problem solving, and simulated experiences of discrimination through first-person accounts, videotapes, and patient and physician panels. We speculate that the development of cultural sensitivity in the undergraduate medical student will aid in increasing professional sensitivity to all patients.