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Cultural Competency Curriculum

The degree to which culture influences an individual's perception of a given illness and the decision to seek health care are two important components of the health care access problem. It is imperative that all health professionals have the knowledge and communication skills that will make them attentive to the cultural differences of their patients. 

Since 1998, AMSA Foundation has been piloting Cultural Competency Curricular Guidelines at medical and dental schools around the country.  The guidelines are compiled from recommendations of national leaders in the field, extensive literature review, federal guidelines and initiatives, as well as Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) guidelines. The schools use the guidelines to create innovative programs tailored to their own communities.  The suggested guidelines address key concepts found in the literature, and are divided into three main components: concepts, foundational knowledge, and practical suggestion and skills.

• Wake Forest University
• Kansas University Medical Center
• Medical University of South Carolina
• Mercer University School of Medicine
• University of Massachusetts Medical School
• Saint Louis University School of Medicine
• Penn State College of Medicine
• UMDNJ--Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
• Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Des Moines University Osteopathic Medical Center
• Brown Medical School
• Eastern Virginia Medical School
• Midwestern University College of Osteopathic Medicine
• University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago
• University of Nebraska College of Dentistry
• University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Dental Medicine
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
• University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston

For more information on the Cultural Competency Curriculum, contact Angelia Bowman, Director of the Center for the Future of Health Care, by email or by telephone at 703-620-6600 x216.

• Strategies for preparing medical school faculty to teach cultural competency through integration;

• A suggested curriculum outline for cultural competency that can be tailored to any school;

• A look at ways to evaluated the efficacy of a culturally competent medical education and student/faculty performance within it;

• Detailed methods for student instruction in cultural competency, based on existing curriculum type;

• A blueprint for making cultural competency an integrated part of an institution.

  Download it here.