Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #98949

Aviva Walker-Sicard, MPH, School of Public Health Alumni, University of Illinois at Chicago, 9278 Canterbury Riding, Laurel, MD 20723, 312-343-1748, nthaLord@yahoo.com and Bernard Baum, PhD, Health Policy and Administration, University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health, 1603 West Taylor St, MC 923, Chicago, IL 60612.

A great deal of attention has been given to the development of guidelines and curricula for cultural competence training programs in healthcare given the girth of knowledge and recommendations in this area. The objective of this study was to examine the degree of implementation of the cultural competence curriculum guidelines by examining the number of cultural competence training programs in family practice residency programs. A sample of family practice residency programs in the Chicago-metropolitan area was asked for an interview in order to fill out a questionnaire regarding the degree and content of cultural competence training for the family practice residents in each program. The results speak to the further work necessary in the area of cultural competence training implementation. Less than half of the programs responded to the request for an interview and less than half of the family practice residency programs in the Chicago metropolitan-area had actually implemented the guidelines and curriculum set forth by the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine and the American Academy of Family Practice. Although most of the family practice residency programs deemed cultural competence a vital component of residency training, the degree of implementation varied significantly from program to program from little implementation to none. Further research is necessary to discern the barriers preventing residency programs from the development and implementation of a separate cultural competence curriculum at their respective institutions.

Learning Objectives:

• Cultural competence training guidelines developed by leading organizations in family medicine
• Examining implementation of cultural competence training guidelines in a metropolitan area
• Looking at challenges ahead to having a more culturally competent physician workforce

Keywords: Cultural Competency, Education

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.