Educational institutions for health professionals are increasingly required to include cultural competency in curriculum and training programs so that future health professionals are prepared to provide health care services that are respectful and responsive to cultural and linguistic needs. The University of Maryland School of Medicine (SOM) is uniquely positioned to develop inter-disciplinary cultural and linguistic competency curricula for health professionals since it shares a campus with Schools of Nursing, Social Work and Dentistry. Under Dr. Carter-Pokras' leadership, a multifaceted approach will be used to develop, implement and evaluate cultural competency curricula at the University of Maryland. New SOM faculty orientation materials and training will include information on how to address linguistic barriers. Case studies of best practices in culturally competent care in the areas of cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, hematological disorders (oncology) and sleep disorders will be developed for inclusion in SOM curriculum. Through a new required 4-year Practice of Medicine course, medical students will receive expanded training in cultural and linguistic competence. Optional medical Spanish classes, community practice experiences, medical interpreter training and qualifying examinations for native Spanish and advanced medical Spanish students, and elective courses at our sister health professional schools will be offered. Changes in student attitudes and beliefs regarding persons of other cultures (questionnaires) and student behavior (standardized patients) will be assessed. Seminars based on the Office of Minority Health/American Institute of Research's family medicine cultural competency curriculum will be provided to selected University of Maryland Residents and Fellows. Patient perspectives and instructor evaluations of how students utilized the training in practice will be assessed. A web-based course on Health of Diverse Populations will be developed for practicing health professionals in collaboration with the Schools of Nursing, Dentistry and Social Work. Quality of on-line instruction (learning effectiveness, cost effectiveness, access, faculty satisfaction, student satisfaction) will be assessed using the Sloan-C Model of Five Pillars of Instruction. An asthma intervention in the adult emergency department incorporating health professional training in cultural competency and national asthma guidelines will be conducted, and changes in asthma patient outcomes assessed.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Type
Academic/Teacher Award (ATA) (K07)
Project #
1K07HL079255-01
Application #
6863803
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZHL1-CSR-B (S2))
Program Officer
Colombini-Hatch, Sandra
Project Start
2004-09-30
Project End
2009-08-31
Budget Start
2004-09-30
Budget End
2005-08-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2004
Total Cost
$102,816
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Maryland Baltimore
Department
Public Health & Prev Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
188435911
City
Baltimore
State
MD
Country
United States
Zip Code
21201
Zambrana, Ruth E; Carter-Pokras, Olivia (2010) Role of acculturation research in advancing science and practice in reducing health care disparities among Latinos. Am J Public Health 100:18-23
Carter-Pokras, Olivia; Bereknyei, Sylvia; Lie, Desiree et al. (2010) Surmounting the unique challenges in health disparities education: a multi-institution qualitative study. J Gen Intern Med 25 Suppl 2:S108-14
Dogra, Nisha; Reitmanova, Sylvia; Carter-Pokras, Olivia (2010) Teaching cultural diversity: current status in U.K., U.S., and Canadian medical schools. J Gen Intern Med 25 Suppl 2:S164-8
Carter-Pokras, Olivia D; Spirtas, Robert; Bethune, Lisa et al. (2009) The training of epidemiologists and diversity in epidemiology: findings from the 2006 Congress of Epidemiology survey. Ann Epidemiol 19:268-75
Dogra, Nisha; Reitmanova, Sylvia; Carter-Pokras, Olivia (2009) Twelve tips for teaching diversity and embedding it in the medical curriculum. Med Teach 31:990-3
Carter-Pokras, Olivia; Bethune, Lisa (2009) Defining and measuring acculturation: a systematic review of public health studies with Hispanic populations in the United States. A commentary on Thomson and Hoffman-Goetz. Soc Sci Med 69:992-5; discussion 999-1001
Carter-Pokras, Olivia; Zambrana, Ruth E; Poppell, Carolyn F et al. (2007) The environmental health of Latino children. J Pediatr Health Care 21:307-14
Dogra, Nisha; Carter-Pokras, Olivia (2005) Stakeholder views regarding cultural diversity teaching outcomes: a qualitative study. BMC Med Educ 5:37