Culturally Competent in Medical Education - European Medical Teachers' Self-Reported Preparedness and Training Needs to Teach Cultural Competence Topics and to Teach a Diverse Class.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Background Health inequalities related to culture and ethnicity may be reduced by training future health care providers.Medical teachers therefore also need to be culturally competent. The aim of this study was to assess medical teachers' preparedness and their training needs to teach cultural competence topics and to teach a diverse class. Methods A link to an online survey was sent to medical teachers of eleven European institutions. Results were analysed through descriptive analysis and answers to open-ended questions were analysed using qualitative analysis. Results 968 respondents were included. The majority of respondents felt it was important that cultural competence topics should be incorporated into the medical curriculum. Assessment of skills in cultural competence was found important as well. Over 60% of all respondents reported to be somewhat or very prepared to teach cultural competence topics like migrant health and disparities. Most respondents felt somewhat or very prepared to teach a diverse class. A high interest in training was expressed on teaching cultural competence topics, specifically on communication-related topics. Conclusion This study emphasizes the importance of incorporating cultural issues into the medical curriculum and to train medical teachers according to their needs.

'Soft and fluffy': medical students' attitudes towards psychology in medical education.

Psychology is viewed by medical students in a negative light. In order to understand this phenomenon, we interviewed 19 medical students about their experiences of psychology in medical education. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis. Four main themes were generated: attitudes, teaching culture, curriculum factors and future career path; negative attitudes were transmitted by teachers to students and psychology was associated with students opting for a career in general practice. In summary, appreciation of psychology in medical education will only happen if all educators involved in medical education value and respect each other's speciality and expertise.