Study: Doctors lack diversity training

NEW YORK, May 9 (UPI) -- Half of U.S. resident physicians have received only minimal training in cross-cultural communication, a new survey says.

As the population becomes increasingly diverse, doctors are encountering a wider array of cultural and ethnic backgrounds among their patients. That change presents new challenges in dealing with non-English speakers and patients used to other medical traditions.

According to the survey by the Commonwealth Fund, more than one in five said they felt unprepared to treat patients with cultural issues that are at odds with Western medicine, religious beliefs that affect care or patients with limited English proficiency.

To improve the training of resident physicians, cross-cultural curricula focusing on practical tools and skills should be integrated into graduate medical education, the authors said.

That training should include strategies to avoid stereotyping, a framework for communicating across cultures, instruction on using interpreters and skills for better understanding the community receiving care.