Cultural Competency in Medical Education through the Arts and Humanities: An Innovative Immersive Community-Based...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Cultural Competency Training
• Arts and Humanities in Medicine

Background:

• Teaching cultural competency is essential but challenging in medical education.
• Immersive, arts and humanities-based experiential learning is underexplored.
• A novel workshop was developed to address this gap.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a novel arts and humanities-based cultural competency workshop.
• To assess its impact on medical residents' cultural awareness and readiness.
• To explore the role of experiential learning in medical education.

Main Methods:

• A half-day workshop was conducted for Internal Medicine residents.
• It included a walking tour of historic sites and discussions on art, history, community, and health.
• Anonymous pre- and postintervention surveys with Likert scale responses were administered.

Main Results:

• 82% of residents completed the presurvey, and 60% completed the postsurvey.
• Statistically significant improvements were observed in all five assessed learning outcomes.
• The workshop enhanced residents' awareness and self-perceived readiness for cultural issues in clinical practice.

Conclusions:

• Immersive arts and humanities learning holds significant potential for enhancing cultural competency in medical education.
• This approach complements traditional training, fostering culturally responsive care.
• Further implementation across diverse training settings is recommended to prepare future physicians for complex patient interactions.