Cross-cultural Training of Residents and Medical Students in Global Child Health

The global migration of children and families from one country to another has increased diversity of pediatric populations worldwide, requiring pediatric health care professionals to develop skills in cross- cultural communication. This necessitates the development of communication skills adapted for cultural and linguistic differences and an understanding of the unique social determinants that may affect newcomers to a host country, including the process of acculturation. Effective cross-cultural communication requires understanding one’s implicit biases that might affect the patient interaction and having appropriate interpreter services. Overall, cross-cultural communication is centered on obtaining the patient’s and family’s perspective of the patient’s malady to develop a therapeutic relationship that builds trust between the health care professional and the patient/family. Cultural competency curriculums developed to achieve this goal include the following 5 domains:Students’ understanding of the definition and rationale of cultural competencyInfluence of cultural/environmental factorsUnderstanding the effect of stereotyping on medical decision-makingHealth disparities and factors influencing healthCross-cultural clinical skills Effective cross-cultural communication requires humility on the part of the health care professional as well. Although the term cultural competency implies an achievable competency, the true goal is to achieve efficacious cross-cultural communication skills, which become refined over time with interaction with patients from a variety of cultures, languages, and social-environmental backgrounds. With the growing diversity of children in the United States and in many other countries globally, the development and continued refinement of these skills is necessary to maintain clinical excellence in pediatric care around the world.