Medical students, Aborigines and migrants: evaluation of a teaching programme

In spite of evidence of poor communication between Aboriginal patients and doctors, there are few reports of educational efforts to overcome this problem. This paper describes a brief teaching programme for fourth-year medical students that was aimed at improving their knowledge of, and attitudes towards, Aboriginal and migrant patients. It comprised a lecture, a clinical contact with an Aboriginal or migrant patient, and a tutorial. Evaluation of the programme by the "before-and-after" measurement of student attitudes and knowledge showed a modest improvement in some attitudes, although there was an increased tendency to see all Aborigines as the same. Students' knowledge improved in one of the areas that were tested but not in the other. Teaching in this area could be improved further by more clinical contacts, videotaped consultations, and a student log-book.