Multicultural issues in medical curriculum: implications for Canadian physicians

This descriptive study explored multicultural issues in medical education which should be included in the curricula of both the undergraduate and residency programs of the Faculty of Medicine, The University of Calgary. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 21 male and female ethnic patients to determine their expectations of and experiences with the health care they had received in Canada. Telephone interviews were conducted with ten primary care physicians to determine their experiences of providing care to new immigrants from cultures other than their own. Content analyses and comparison of the two sets of interview data revealed barriers to satisfaction, diagnosis and treatment. Some barriers were perceived both by the physicians and the ethnic patients, e.g. language, and attitudes towards medical technology and treatment. Others were perceived just by the physicians, e.g. patients' belief in traditional practices. Still others were perceived just by the ethnic patient, e.g. perceived racial discrimination. Based on the data from the interviews, two simulated patients were developed and presented to the students of medicine, both undergraduate and resident, to teach them about multicultural health care. This study demonstrates how local data about multicultural health issues can be used to develop simulated patients for inclusion in the medical curriculum.