Evaluation of a train-the-trainer program for cultural competence

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Education
• Cultural Competence Training
• Faculty Development

Background:

• Most pharmacy faculty (94%) lacked formal training in teaching cultural competence.
• There is a need to integrate diversity, cultural issues, and health literacy into pharmacy curricula to meet accreditation standards.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop, implement, and evaluate a cultural competence train-the-trainer workshop for pharmacy educators.
• To enhance faculty self-efficacy in developing and teaching cultural competence content.

Main Methods:

• A 2-day train-the-trainer workshop was delivered to 50 pharmacy faculty nationwide.
• Participant self-efficacy was assessed via surveys at baseline, post-training, and 9-month follow-up.

Main Results:

• Post-workshop, participants' confidence in developing and teaching cultural competence content significantly increased.
• The percentage of faculty rating their ability as "very good" or "excellent" rose from 13% to 60%.
• Nearly 3,000 students were taught aspects of the curriculum within 9 months post-training.

Conclusions:

• The train-the-trainer workshop effectively improved faculty's perceived and documented ability to teach cultural competence.
• This model is a viable strategy for meeting accreditation requirements for diversity and cultural competency education in pharmacy.
• The training empowered educators to integrate essential topics into their teaching.