Challenge 5: Develop curricula that fosters cultural competencies
The value and need for cultural competency in health care is supported
by volumes of research. The National Standards for Culturally and
linguistically Appropriate Services in Health care (CLAS standards),
Healthy People 2010, and educational accreditation standards recommend
and in some cases require that health care providers understand and
address the impact of culture on the health care outcomes of patients
and clients. In addition, the research evidence suggests that it
is critical that health care providers are trained to be culturally
competent. National experts in higher education are increasingly
advocating the importance of educating students to be more culturally
competent.
In light of this growing body of evidence NWHSU must be more aggressive
in developing and adopting curriculum proposals for the inclusion
of cultural competency.
Targeted Areas for Improvement Include:
- Institute curricula and research initiatives that provide students
with the skills and orientation to function effectively in multicultural
workplaces and social environments.
- Include a cultural competency track as a component of the core
curriculum in all programs
- Include service learning participation as mandatory electives
- Clinical rotations that involve diverse populations should be
mandatory, and a part of core curriculum
