A multi-disciplinary team of primary care and subspecialty physicians, nutritionists, nurses, social workers, and medical educators at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine will develop, implement, evaluate, and disseminate a comprehensive, longitudinal, integrated, case-based cultural competence training program, focusing on cardiovascular, pulmonary, hematological, and sleep disorders in an effort to prepare future health professionals to address health disparities. The training program will be developed as an integral part of Curriculum 2000, a nationally recognized medical school curriculum reform initiative at the University of Pennsylvania. The program will be organized around the following domains as outlined by the AAMC Tool for Assessing Cultural Competence Training (TACCT): 1) rationale, context and definition of cultural competence; 2) key aspects of cultural competence; 3) understanding the impact of stereotyping on medical decision making; 4) health disparities and factors influencing health; 5) cross-cultural clinical skills.
The specific aims of the project are: 1) To integrate a cultural sensitivity training program into the required core curriculum and clinical clerkships and develop exportable educational materials, specifically cases, designed to produce meaningful changes in the overall knowledge, skills and attitudes of learners at all levels; 2) to implement the training program within the School of Medicine and University of Pennsylvania Health System (i.e. undergraduate, graduate, and health professionals); 3) to evaluate the program using process and outcome measures; 4) to disseminate the program so that other academic medical centers may benefit; and 5) to ensure that the program is supported by the Institution at the conclusion of the grant.
