Resident Physicians’ Preparedness to Provide Cross-Cultural Care: Implications for Clinical Care and Medical Education Policy

This publication gives an overview of a national study of resident physicians in their final year of training. They found that few residents reported feeling unprepared in a general sense to care for patients from racial and ethnic minorities and from diverse cultures; yet, they felt far more unprepared to care for patients with specific cultural characteristics, including those who mistrust the U.S. health care system or who have health beliefs or practices at odds with western medicine. The authors provide recommendations for addressing this issue.