A Comparison of Surgery and Family Medicine Residents' Perceptions of Cross-Cultural Care Training of Cross-Cultural Care Training

The need for physicians formally trained to deliver care to diverse patient populations has been widely advocated. Utilizing a validated tool, Weissman and Betancourt''s Cross-Cultural Care Survey, the aim of this current study was to compare surgery and family medicine residents'' perceptions of their preparedness and skillfulness to provide high quality cross-cultural care. Past research has documented differences between the two groups'' reported impressions of importance and level of instruction received in cross-cultural care. Twenty surgery and 15 family medicine residents participated in the study. Significant differences were found between surgery and family medicine residents on most ratings of the amount of training they received in cross-cultural skills. Specifically, family medicine residents reported having received more training on: 1) determining how patients want to be addressed, 2) taking a social history, 3) assessing their understanding of the cause of illness, 4) negotiating their treatment plan, 5) assessing whether they are mistrustful of the health care system and/or doctor, 6) identifying cultural customs, 7) identifying how patients make decisions within the family, and 8) delivering services through a medical interpreter. One unexpected finding was that surgery residents, who reported not receiving much formal cultural training, reported higher mean scores on perceived skillfulness (i.e. ability) than family medicine residents. The disconnect may be linked to the family medicine residents'' training in cultural humility — more knowledge and understanding of cross-cultural care can paradoxically lead to perceptions of being less prepared or skillful in this area.