The Need for Cultural Awareness Training: A Medical Student Perspective

Inpatient training is a fundamental aspect of undergraduate and graduate medi- cal education. Physicians in training spend considerable time interacting with patients in a hospital setting during their time in medical school, residency, and fellowship. This time is crucial not only for the trainees to develop their techni- cal and diagnostic abilities, but also to improve their interpersonal communica- tion skills. The need to improve the nontechnical skills of trainees has already been recognized at the graduate medical education level. Our study aimed to examine medical student perspectives on certain nontechnical aspects of the patient-physician interaction and the effect of student demographics and cul- tural and religious preferences on their opinions. The study found that two-thirds of students had never had their teachers discuss how posture could be used to facilitate the medical interview, and 85% of the students agreed that their cur- riculum should include discussions on the appropriate posture for patient com- munication in an inpatient setting. We believe integrating some form of cultural awareness and competency training into the curriculum at the undergraduate medical education level would help prepare future physicians for an increasingly diverse patient population.