Acquire, apply, and activate knowledge: A pyramid model for teaching and integrating cultural competence in medical curricula

Costas S Constantinou; Alexia Papageorgiou; George Samoutis; Peter McCrorie

doi:10.1016/j.pec.2017.12.016

Acquire, apply, and activate knowledge: A pyramid model for teaching and integrating cultural competence in medical curricula

Patient Educ Couns. 2018 Jun;101(6):1147-1151. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2017.12.016. Epub 2017 Dec 30.

Authors

Costas S Constantinou¹, Alexia Papageorgiou², George Samoutis³, Peter McCrorie⁴

Affiliations

¹ Medical Sociology, University of Nicosia Medical School, Cyprus. Electronic address: constantinou.c@unic.ac.cy.
² Clinical Communication, University of Nicosia Medical School, Cyprus.
³ Primary Care, University of Nicosia Medical School, Cyprus.
⁴ Medical Education, St George's, University of London, UK; Medical Education, University of Nicosia Medical School, Cyprus.

PMID: 29305063
DOI: 10.1016/j.pec.2017.12.016

Abstract

The importance of cultural competence in health care has been more acknowledged since modern societies are becoming increasingly multi-cultural. Research evidence shows that cultural competence is associated with improved skills and patient satisfaction, and it also seems to have a positive impact on adherence to therapy. Based on this evidence, the acknowledged importance of cultural competence and its poor integration into medical curricula, we present a pyramid model for building cultural competence into medical curricula whereby medical students can enhance their skills through acquiring, applying and activating knowledge.

Keywords: Cultural competence; Health care; Medical curricula; Pyramid model.

MeSH terms

Cultural Competency*
Curriculum*
Education, Medical, Undergraduate
Female
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice*
Health Personnel / education*
Humans
Learning*
Male
Schools, Medical
Students, Medical / psychology*