Residents' perceptions of transcultural psychiatric practice

A questionnaire was distributed to 190 psychiatry residents to analyze the impact of three factors on residents' perceptions of their transcultural practice: cultural identity of residents; degree of exposure to patients from different cultures; and training in cultural psychiatry. Results suggest that residents' perceptions vary according to the resident's cultural origin. The training in psychiatry and the degree of exposure to patients from different cultures had no significant influence on the residents' perceptions. Overall these results emphasize the necessity to revise the cultural content of residents' psychiatry curriculum to, among other things, raise residents' awareness of their own cultural identity.