Cross-cultural Medical Education Research Articles

AI-Assisted English Language Learning for Cross-Cultural Medical Education in Multilingual Settings

In the interconnected world of global healthcare, proficiency in the English language serves as a crucial cornerstone for medical professionals as it facilitates access to a vast wealth of knowledge, collaborative research, and international dialogue. However, the challenge of developing not only linguistic proficiency but also cross-cultural competence within multilingual medical settings remains a significant challenge. This article investigates the innovative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in transcending these barriers through AI-assisted English language learning, aimed at enriching cross-cultural medical education. It underscores the critical role of English in medical academia and practice by highlighting the consequential divide that language barriers can impose on non-native English speakers. Furthermore, it investigates the nuances of cross-cultural communication within healthcare by emphasizing the necessity for cultural competence amongst healthcare professionals to ensure comprehensive patient care across diverse cultural backgrounds. The investigation extends into an analysis of current AI technologies in language learning, evaluating their capacity to offer personalized, immersive learning experiences that go beyond mere linguistic acquisition to include cultural nuances and medical terminologies. Through an examination of case studies, the article presents successful integrations of AI-assisted language learning tools in medical education. And also, it illustrates their impact on improving English proficiency, cultural awareness, and ultimately, patient care in multilingual environments. Similarly, this article argues for a more inclusive approach to medical education. It proposes the utilization of AI technology, envisioning a future where AI-assisted English language learning becomes an integral component of medical curricula. This approach aims to foster a generation of healthcare professionals equipped with both the linguistic skills and cultural sensitivities required to negotiate the complexities of global healthcare.

The imperative for cross-cultural medical education in globalized healthcare.

Current healthcare systems are like living creatures. They are highly complex, multi-faceted, and dynamic. They must constantly change and adapt; they are like a melting pot, brimming with both rich and diverse cultures from all corners of the world. Beyond just nationality, these systems can include many languages, religious beliefs, socioeconomic backgrounds, and unique health practices. The tides of globalization, multicultural societies, migration, and international collaboration are continuously reshaping how healthcare providers are educated and how healthcare is delivered in an equitable, inclusive, and fair manner. To keep pace with, and within, these highly vibrant socio-cultural frameworks, Cross-Cultural Medical Education is needed to educate healthcare professionals. This education is essential to create professionals who are not just skilled, but who are also culturally savvy and able provide fair and equal care to patients from all sorts of backgrounds. It provides professionals with foundational knowledge to navigate the complex landscape of diverse patient populations. Cross-Cultural Medical Education is thus of paramount importance to satisfy the need for effective cross-cultural communication and understanding in patient care preferences, ultimately leading to improved health outcomes.

Insights into Delivering Cross-Cultural Medical Education in the UK and Malaysia

Newcastle University UK operates an international campus, NUMed, in Malaysia. NUMed delivers the same medical degree programme as in the UK, within a different cultural context. In this paper, medical education faculty and NUMed graduates with experience working in both the UK and Malaysia provide insights into cross-cultural diversity in approaches to learning. Observations from small and large group teaching and approaches to assessment are discussed in relation to students’ cultural backgrounds including previous learning experiences and English language abilities. We provide practice points for educators preparing a diverse range of students to work in global healthcare settings.

2. 医療現場における医療通訳者との協働:2-2 医療通訳を通して学ぶ多文化医療

2. 医療現場における医療通訳者との協働:2-2 医療通訳を通して学ぶ多文化医療

Cross-Cultural Medical Care Training and Education: a National Survey of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellows-in-Training and Fellowship Program Directors.

Pediatric hematologists/oncologists face complex situations such as breaking bad news, treatment/clinical trials discussions, and end-of-life/hospice care. With increasing diversity in patient and physician populations, cultural competency and sensitivity training covering different aspects of pediatric hematology/oncology (PDHO) care can help improve health care delivery and reduce disparities. Though it is considered a required component of fellowship training, there is no clearly defined curriculum meant specifically for PDHO fellows-in-training (PDHO-F). A national online survey of 356 PDHO-F and 67 PDHO program directors (PDHO-PD) was conducted to assess the educational experience, perceptions about identifying barriers including one's own biases and trainee comfort in delivering culturally sensitive care in various PDHO relevant clinical situations. One hundred and eleven (31.2%) PDHO-F and 27 (40.3%) PDHO-PD responded. 30.6% of PDHO-F "strongly agreed/agreed" they received comprehensive cross-cultural communication (CCC) training. The top two teaching methods were faculty role modeling and informal teaching. Majority of CCC training is in medical school or residency and only 10.8% of PDHO-F reported that most of their CCC training was in fellowship. In most clinical situations, there was a modest direct correlation between the fellow's level of agreement that they received comprehensive CCC training and their comfort level. Comfort level with some clinical situations was also significantly different based on year of training. Fellowship training programs should have CCC curricula which use experiential learning models and lay the foundation for promoting cultural awareness, self-reflection, and better patient-physician partnerships which can eventually adapt to and surmount the challenges unique to the physician's chosen field of practice.

Turning cross-cultural medical education on its head: Learning about ourselves and developing respectful curiosity

Cross-cultural education is often understood to mean acquiring cultural knowledge about different cultural groups in order to serve people from diverse groups equitably. However, this article argues that to work effectively in cross-cultural situations, we need to learn about our own culture and develop an approach of respectful curiosity. The first goal of cross-cultural education is to understand how culture influences our thoughts, perceptions, biases, and values at an unconscious level. The second goal is to understand the nature of individual cultural identity as a multidimensional and dynamic construct through exploration of our own cultural identity. This exploration helps us understand the limitations of learning about ‘others’ through learning categorical information and helps us limit the effect of our implicit biases on our interactions. The approach of respectful curiosity is recommended to question our assumptions, understand each unique individual patient, connect with each patient, and build the therapeutic relationship.

Opportunities for Cross-Cultural Medical Education

Cross-cultural medical education is a timely topic in undergraduate medical education. The National Institute of Medicine, mandated by Congress, produced a report that examined a wide body of existing medical research and found compelling evidence of health-care disparities between minority and nonminority patients. The increasing awareness on the part of the medical community of the effect of race and ethnicity on health outcomes has provided some of the impetus for mandating the inclusion of cultural diversity and cross-cultural communication in medical education (Flores, 2000; US Bureau of the Census, 1998; Betancourt et al., 2000; Carrillo et al., 1999). The growing use of alternative health practices and complementary medicine among the general population as well as in specific groups also indicates the need for eliciting culturally competent medical histories (Adler and Fosket, 1999). Physicians increasingly encounter patients of diverse racial, ethnic, linguistic, and religious backgrounds, making effective cross-cultural communication skills essential. The need for training in cultural competence has been embraced by the Association of American Medical Colleges and other regulatory and accrediting bodies and is currently a requirement for medical schools. As the United States population becomes more diverse, racially and ethnically, demographic differences between physicians and patients increase, and the medical profession itself becomes more diverse, cross-cultural medical training takes on greater significance.

Medical Education in the Global Arena: The Impact of Cross-cultural Learning

This comprehensive review examines the international literature on global medical education. Specifically, teaching and learning styles, transnational education, and potential challenges that arise with cultural and local differences are evaluated. Global medical education has the potential to serve local needs in resource-limited settings and set international standards for curriculum and accreditation. There are broad differences when comparing teaching styles between countries with a significant narrowing of teaching methods found when examined within a country. Learning styles differ greatly as well, and can be optimized when individual preferences for learning and local cultures are considered. As teachers and learners are increasingly brought together from different cultures, analyzing teaching and learning methods is essential to productive cross cultural medical education.

Cross-cultural medical education: Using narratives to reflect on experience

Introduction. Educating students in a multi-cultural society is a challenge as teachers, students and the community they serve all tend to represent various social groups. Skills alone are not adequate for competency in understanding cultural aspects of consultations. A combination of knowledge, skills and attitude is the most widely accepted current approach to teaching culturally competent communication to medical students. Collaborative reflection on narratives of experienced clinicians’ cultural encounters served to construct an understanding of how to develop these attributes. Process. An interest group of medical teachers met to address the specific needs of teaching a relevant cross-cultural curriculum. Participants offered narratives from their professional life and reflected on these encounters to understand how to improve the current curriculum to better address the needs of the students and patients they serve. Results. Through narratives, participants were able to reflect on how their experience had allowed them to develop cultural awareness. All stories represented how attitudes of respect, curiosity and unconditional positive regard were held above all else. The process of collaborative reflection with peers unpacked the complexity and potential in the stories and different learning opportunities were discovered. Learning was personalised because the stories were based on real experiences. Conclusion. The use of collaborative reflection on narratives of clinical encounters could facilitate insights about cultural aspects of medical practice. Elements such as curiosity, respect and unconditional positive regard are illustrated in a unique way that allows students to appreciate the real-life aspects of cross-cultural clinical encounters.

Cross-Cultural Undergraduate Medical Education in North America: Theoretical Concepts and Educational Approaches

Background: Cross-cultural undergraduate medical education in North America lacks conceptual clarity. Consequently, school curricula are unsystematic, nonuniform, and fragmented. This article provides a literature review about available conceptual models of cross-cultural medical education. The clarification of these models may inform the development of effective educational programs to enable students to provide better quality care to patients from diverse sociocultural backgrounds. Summary: The approaches to cross-cultural health education can be organized under the rubric of two specific conceptual models: cultural competence and critical culturalism. The variation in the conception of culture adopted in these two models results in differences in all curricular components: learning outcomes, content, educational strategies, teaching methods, student assessment, and program evaluation. Conclusions: Medical schools could benefit from more theoretical guidance on the learning outcomes, content, and educational strategies provided to them by governing and licensing bodies. More student assessments and program evaluations are needed in order to appraise the effectiveness of cross-cultural undergraduate medical education.

Cross-cultural medical education: Can patient-centered cultural competency training be effective in non-Western countries?

Background: No evidence addresses the effectiveness of patient-centered cultural competence training in non-Western settings.Aims: To examine whether a patient-centered cultural competency curriculum improves medical students’ skills in eliciting the patients’ perspective and exploring illness-related social factors.Method: Fifty-seven medical students in Taiwan were randomly assigned to either the control (n = 27) or one of two intervention groups: basic (n = 15) and extensive (n = 15). Both intervention groups received two 2-hour patient-centered cultural competency workshops. In addition, the extensive intervention group received a 2-hour practice session. The control group received no training.Results: At the end of the clerkship, all students were evaluated with an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). Students in the extensive intervention group scored significantly higher than the basic intervention and control groups in eliciting the patient's perspective (F = 18.38, p < 0.001, η2 = 0.40). Scores of both intervention groups were significantly higher than the control group in the exploring social factors (F = 6.66, p = 0.003, η2 = 0.20).Conclusion: Patient-centered cultural competency training can produce improvement in medical students’ cross-cultural communication skills in non-Western settings, especially when adequate practice is provided.

Cultural Competence in Audiology

Cultural Competence in Audiology

Cross-cultural medical education: conceptual approaches and frameworks for evaluation.

Given that understanding the sociocultural dimensions underlying a patient's health values, beliefs, and behaviors is critical to a successful clinical encounter, cross-cultural curricula have been incorporated into undergraduate medical education. The goal of these curricula is to prepare students to care for patients from diverse social and cultural backgrounds, and to recognize and appropriately address racial, cultural, and gender biases in health care delivery. Despite progress in the field of cross-cultural medical education, several challenges exist. Foremost among these is the need to develop strategies to evaluate the impact of these curricular interventions. This article provides conceptual approaches for cross-cultural medical education, and describes a framework for student evaluation that focuses on strategies to assess attitudes, knowledge, and skills, and the impact of curricular interventions on health outcomes.

Race, ethnicity, and heart failure

Few issues stir as much emotion and can be as divisive as the issue of race. Centuries of history and decades of deep social changes are unquestionably major factors contributing to the sensitivity of this issue. Medicine, which according to Virchow 1 Taylor R Rieger A Medicine as social science: Rudolf Virchow on the typhus epidemic in Upper Silesia. Int J Health Serv. 1985; 15: 547-559 Crossref PubMed Scopus (66) Google Scholar is a social science in its very bone and marrow, could not escape dealing with this issue. 2 Green AR Betancourt JR Carrillo JE Integrating social factors into cross-cultural medical education. Acad Med. 2002; 77: 193-197 Crossref PubMed Scopus (80) Google Scholar

Untangling “Social” from “Cultural” in Cross-Cultural Medical Education

Teaching physicians cultural competency concepts and skills that will help them overcome the challenge of caring for patients from many cultures and lead to improved patient-physician communication. Virtual Mentor is a monthly bioethics journal published by the American Medical Association.

Integrating social factors into cross-cultural medical education.

The field of cross-cultural medical education has blossomed in an environment of increasing diversity and increasing awareness of the effect of race and ethnicity on health outcomes. However, there is still no standardized approach to teaching doctors in training how best to care for diverse patient populations. As standards are developed, it is crucial to realize that medical educators cannot teach about culture in a vacuum. Caring for patients of diverse cultural backgrounds is inextricably linked to caring for patients of diverse social backgrounds. In this article, the authors discuss the importance of social issues in caring for patients of all cultures, and propose a practical, patient-based approach to social analysis covering four major domains--(1) social stress and support networks, (2) change in environment, (3) life control, and (4) literacy. By emphasizing and expanding the role of the social history in cross-cultural medical education, faculty can better train medical students, residents, and other health care providers to care for socioculturally diverse patient populations.

Cross-Cultural Primary Care

Letters18 January 2000Cross-Cultural Primary CareAlexander R. Green, MD, Joseph R. Betancourt, MD, MPH, and J. Emilio Carrillo, MD, MPHAlexander R. Green, MDNew York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Medical College of Cornell University; New York, NY 10021 (Green)New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Medical College of Cornell University; New York, NY 10021 (Betancourt)New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Medical College of Cornell University; New York, NY 10021 (Carrillo)Search for more papers by this author, Joseph R. Betancourt, MD, MPHNew York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Medical College of Cornell University; New York, NY 10021 (Green)New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Medical College of Cornell University; New York, NY 10021 (Betancourt)New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Medical College of Cornell University; New York, NY 10021 (Carrillo)Search for more papers by this author, and J. Emilio Carrillo, MD, MPHNew York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Medical College of Cornell University; New York, NY 10021 (Green)New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Medical College of Cornell University; New York, NY 10021 (Betancourt)New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Medical College of Cornell University; New York, NY 10021 (Carrillo)Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-132-2-200001180-00018 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail IN RESPONSE:We appreciate and welcome these insightful comments. Cross-cultural medical education is attracting great interest while rapidly evolving. It is crucial to have open and ongoing dialogue on the content and approach to curricula that attempt to improve care to socioculturally diverse populations. We agree with Drs. Perkins and Hazuda on the importance of looking “beyond patients to health professionals.” The brief description of our “basic concepts” module mentions that “ … participants reflect on their own cultures and how these influence their personal perspectives on illness and health care.” Although this is simply stated, we pay great attention ... Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Alexander R. Green, MD; Joseph R. Betancourt, MD, MPH; J. Emilio Carrillo, MD, MPHAffiliations: New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Medical College of Cornell University; New York, NY 10021 (Green)New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Medical College of Cornell University; New York, NY 10021 (Betancourt)New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Medical College of Cornell University; New York, NY 10021 (Carrillo) PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoCross-Cultural Primary Care: A Patient-Based Approach J. Emilio Carrillo , Alexander R. Green , and Joseph R. Betancourt Cross-Cultural Primary Care Henry S. Perkins and Helen P. Hazuda Cross-Cultural Primary Care Gregory A. Plotnikoff and Linda L. Barnes Metrics 18 January 2000Volume 132, Issue 2Page: 165KeywordsExerciseHealth careMedical educationPopulation statistics ePublished: 15 August 2000 Issue Published: 18 January 2000 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2000 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...

Environmental factors bearing on medical education in the developing countries. C. Cross-cultural medical education

Environmental factors bearing on medical education in the developing countries. C. Cross-cultural medical education