Preparing IM Residents to Care for Indigenous Peoples: A Co-Produced Indigenous Health Curriculum

Resident physicians are unprepared to care for Indigenous communities, which face alarming health disparities.

To improve resident physicians' ability to provide culturally inclusive care for Indigenous patients.

A community-based residency program of 23 Internal Medicine (IM) residents in Arizona.

An Indigenous Health curriculum created and delivered in partnership with interdisciplinary Indigenous employees at our institution. The 5-h curriculum included four educational activities and was delivered longitudinally in 2023-2024.

All 23 residents completed the pre-survey and 19 of 23 residents (83%) completed the post-survey. Perceived knowledge about Indigenous health and Indigenous communities significantly improved (n = 12 of 23 (52%) before the intervention; n = 17 of 19 (89%) after the intervention, p = 0.009). Beliefs about workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion and perceived practice of culturally inclusive care were high prior to the intervention and did not significantly change. Residents reported key skills gained from the curriculum, including increased cultural awareness, improved empathy for Indigenous patients, and enhanced communication skills.

The partnership structure we describe could serve as a model for others within Graduate Medical Education, building similar curricula on culturally inclusive care that is relevant to the needs of their local community.