A workshop on ethnic and cultural awareness for second-year students

In 1984, 50 percent of the first-year students at the University of Southern California School of Medicine felt unprepared to handle the cultural barriers between themselves and their patients during their clinical rotations. Therefore, in 1985 a group of students developed a four-hour workshop designed to teach fellow students about ethnic and cultural issues in patient care. Since then the workshop, which uses videotaped vignettes, discussions, and role-playing exercises, has become a required part of the Introduction to Clinical Medicine course for all second-year students. Evaluation of the program in 1985 compared pretest and posttest questionnaires. The participants showed improvement in understanding several specific issues discussed during the workshop, but overall no significant differences were found. In 1986 and 1987, evaluations were based upon the students' attitudes about content, format effectiveness, and subject matter. They consistently responded favorably in all these areas.