From classrooms to clinics: Applying culturally relevant pedagogy to train physicians who serve African American...

Despite the widespread integration of cultural competence training into undergraduate medical education (UME) curricula over the past two decades, health disparities persist for African American patients. While such training may improve provider attitudes and patient satisfaction, evidence linking it to measurable health outcomes remains limited. This perspective examines how culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP), originally developed by Gloria Ladson-Billings for K-12 education, can be meaningfully adapted to medical education by analyzing successful healthcare interventions for African American patients through this lens. By focusing on CRP principles, including identity, social relationships, and conceptions of knowledge, this article explores how medical educators can better prepare students to serve African American patients through more culturally grounded, community based, and critically engaged training.