AAAAI Modules

Resources Relevant to the Implementation
of Core ACGME-Required Competencies

Module I
Interpersonal & communication skills
Resources


Cultural competence		An important subset of interpersonal and communication skills is cultural competence. Increasingly, physicians are finding that their patients come from a variety of world cultures. In many cases, language barriers and differing beliefs about health and illness can significantly impact both the physician-patient relationship and also the care the patient receives. Resources included in this section of the module reflect some of the wealth of information available on cultural competence. Documented use of resources can be used as evidence that this important issue is being addressed in training programs.
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American Medical Association (AMA)		The AMA has prepared a 460-page Cultural Competence Compendium designed to help health care professionals, "communicate with patients and provide individualized, respectful, patient-centered care." The Compendium has a section on, Resources Emphasizing Communication Skills that provides an extensive annotated list of resources. Training programs may find these resources useful in answering questions about specific cultures or in exploring the nature of cultural competence in general. Contact the AMA at (800) 621-8335 for information on the 1999 Cultural Competence Compendium.
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University of Michigan		The University of Michigan provides information designed to stimulate discussion about what it means to provide culturally sensitive care. It also provides tips for health care providers, including bulleted information about several cultures. The University of Michigan also provides information about how to work with interpreters. This information has practical value for fellows and faculty.
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Center for Cross-cultural Health		The goal of the Center for Cross-cultural Health is ‘to integrate the role of culture in improving health.’ The Center provides a number of resources that can be provided to patients to facilitate communication as well as resources that can be used to stimulate discussion among health care providers. The Center for Cross-cultural Health provides a list of translated health education resources that physicians can use to facilitate communication with patients. The Center provides a selected bibliography on cultural competency. Items appearing on this bibliography are appropriate to read and discuss.
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American Academy on Physician & Patient (AAPP)		The AAPP provides an annotated diversity reading list of books and articles to read and discuss.
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American Medical Student Association (AMSA)		The American Medical Student Association addresses concerns of physicians in training. One of the organization’s areas of focus is the medically underserved. AMSA offers a number of suggested cultural competency resources, including a reading list, a suggested film, and on-line resources that can be used either for reference or to read/view and discuss. While this information appears on the AMSA site, its content is generalizable across the medical education learning spectrum.
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EthnoMed		Harborview Medical Center at the University of Washington in Seattle provides ethnic medical information including culture-specific information on a number of cultures, including Amharic, Cambodian, Chinese, Eritrean, Ethiopian, Mexican, Oromo, Somali, Tigrean, and Vietnamese. These resources can be useful references for faculty and fellows with patients from these ethnic groups. They can also be used as triggers for discussion about differing beliefs about health and illness across cultures. EthnoMed provides culture-specific information about particular diseases and conditions. For example, information about asthma for the Amharic culture is available.
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Culture Clues ^TM		Designed by the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, Culture Clues© provide information about concepts and preferences of patients from diverse cultures, such as Albanian, Korean, Latino, Russian, and Vietnamese. Although written specifically for the University of Washington, the cultural information presented is generalizable across settings and is useful for faculty and fellows either for reference or for triggering discussion about health beliefs across cultures. One example from Culture Clues© is information about communicating with Latino patients.
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UCSF		UCSF provides a wealth of cross-cultural resources including information about transcultural, multicultural, and cultural competency. Several curricula addressing cultural competency are available on the UCSF site. One curriculum, designed at George Washington University, provides self and team exercises as well as general information. Given the size of many A/I training programs and the intensity required to institute a curriculum on communication skills, this resource may be best used in collaboration with other residency or fellowship programs. Culture & Nursing Care: A Pocket Guide , published by UCSF Nursing Press, is a useful resource guide. Designated by the American Journal of Nursing as Book of the Year (1996), it is appropriate for all health care providers and provides information on 20+ cultures on such topics as birth, death, health and illness, and self and family participation in care. This book is a useful reference for faculty and fellows as well as a trigger for discussion.
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Utah Department of Health		One way that programs can demonstrate that they are addressing the area of cultural competency is by sponsoring seminars on the topic. The Utah Department of Health’s Brown Bag series is an example of one way to do this. This series provides an example of a way to incorporate competency-specific content into existing program structures.
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