Interprofessional Simulation as an Educational Tool to Assess Cultural Competence Among Health Professions Students

Area of Science:

• Health Professions Education
• Interprofessional Collaboration
• Cultural Competence in Healthcare

Background:

• Collaborative practice is essential in healthcare, yet barriers hinder interprofessional (IP) teamwork development.
• Lack of cultural diversity exposure in healthcare settings can lead to treatment disparities and patient risk.
• Understanding multiculturalism and cultural competence is crucial for addressing health disparities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the impact of culturally complex clinical simulation scenarios on interprofessional teamwork.
• To hypothesize that integrating cultural competence into simulations would improve participants' understanding.

Main Methods:

• 180 junior-level nursing, social work, occupational therapy, and PharmD students participated in an IP simulation.
• Culturally complex scenarios were enacted by standardized patients representing diverse populations.
• Multicultural Awareness, Knowledge, and Skills Survey (MAKSS) and Cultural Awareness Assessment Tool (CAAT) were used for pre- and post-simulation assessment.

Main Results:

• Statistically significant increases in MAKSS and CAAT scores were observed post-simulation.
• Participation enhanced students' self-assessed cultural awareness and multicultural knowledge and skills.

Conclusions:

• A large-scale IP simulation event involving 180 students across 5 disciplines was successfully planned and executed.
• The simulation demonstrably improved students' self-assessed multicultural awareness, knowledge, skills, and overall cultural awareness.
• Prioritizing cultural competence and humility in simulation-based learning is recommended.