Residency and race

By: Julie McCoy November 14th, 2008

Teaching residents how to communicate cross-culturally in order to provide the best patient care is a a hot topic in residency education. I recently completed an article for the December issue of Residency Program Alert, which talks about developing a cultural competency curriculum.

I learned a lot about how cultural differences can impact the doctor-patient relationship. Without proper training and an understanding of their patients’ customs and beliefs, patient care can be compromised. The onus is on residents and educators to see trainees do whatever they can to ensure that communication, patient compliance, and trust are not hindered by cultural differences.

This morning, I got a look at another aspect of cultural competency: the resident’s perspective. In a New York Times article, (I told you they’re on a role with residency-related articles) Pauline W. Chen, MD, discusses how one of her African-American residents feels when he enters patients’ rooms and they ask if he’s there to transport them to another area of the hospital. He says many patients never think he’s the physician when he walks into their rooms.

I had never thought before about how residents or any physician may feel when a patient has a racial or cultural bias. Have any of your residents encountered a situation like this? How did they handle it? How does your program coach them to respond?