TY - JOUR
T1 - Knowledge and attitudes of U.S. medical students regarding the care of Asian American patients
T2 - a cross-sectional survey study
AU - Pang, Sharon
AU - Vongsachang, Hursuong
AU - Le, Thomas K.
AU - Zhang, George Q.
AU - Li, Taibo
AU - Lee, Jason T.C.
AU - Lawson, Shari M.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors wish to thank Dr. Rachel Mayo and Dr. Windsor Sherrill for their permission to adapt their survey tool. The authors also thank Jing Tian from the Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translational Research for her assistance with conducting the confirmatory factor analysis. The authors also thank Dr. Raquel Greer, Dr. Sarah Clever, and Dr. Lisa Cooper for their input in the study design and Dr. Colleen Christmas, Dr. Janet Record, and Dr. Roy Ziegelstein for reviewing the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).
PY - 2021/12
Y1 - 2021/12
N2 - Background: Asian Americans (AsAm) are a rapidly growing population in the U.S. With this growing population, U.S. healthcare providers must be equipped to provide culturally competent care for AsAm patients. This project surveyed U.S. medical students on their knowledge of and attitudes towards AsAm to assess predictors of readiness to care for AsAm patients. Method: This cross-sectional study surveyed medical students who had completed at least one clinical rotation. The survey was distributed online to nine medical schools throughout the U.S. The survey measured self-rated knowledge of, comfort with, cultural competency (CC) towards, and explicit biases towards AsAm patients. The first three domains were analyzed in a multivariate regression model including sociodemographic characteristics and past clinical, curricular, and social experiences with AsAm. Explicit bias questions were reported descriptively. Results: There were 688 respondents. Asian race, AsAm-prevalent hometown, AsAm-related extracurricular activities, Asian language knowledge, and having taken a population health course predicted increased AsAm knowledge. Social interactions with AsAm increased comfort with AsAm patients. Increasing year in medical school, more frequent exposure to AsAm patients on rotations, and prior travel to an Asian country were predictors of increased CC toward AsAm. Importantly, having completed a CC course was a significant predictor in all domains. In terms of explicit bias, students felt that AsAm patients were more compliant than Caucasian patients. Students also believed that Caucasian patients were generally more likely to receive self-perceived “preferred” versus “acceptable” care, but that in their own clinical experiences neither group received preferred care. Conclusion: Experience with and exposure to AsAm prior to and during medical school and CC courses may increase medical student knowledge, comfort, and CC with AsAm patients. Standardized and longitudinal CC training, increased simulations with AsAm patients, diverse student recruitment, and support for students to engage in AsAm-related activities and interact with AsAm may improve CC of future physicians towards AsAm patients and possibly other minority populations.
AB - Background: Asian Americans (AsAm) are a rapidly growing population in the U.S. With this growing population, U.S. healthcare providers must be equipped to provide culturally competent care for AsAm patients. This project surveyed U.S. medical students on their knowledge of and attitudes towards AsAm to assess predictors of readiness to care for AsAm patients. Method: This cross-sectional study surveyed medical students who had completed at least one clinical rotation. The survey was distributed online to nine medical schools throughout the U.S. The survey measured self-rated knowledge of, comfort with, cultural competency (CC) towards, and explicit biases towards AsAm patients. The first three domains were analyzed in a multivariate regression model including sociodemographic characteristics and past clinical, curricular, and social experiences with AsAm. Explicit bias questions were reported descriptively. Results: There were 688 respondents. Asian race, AsAm-prevalent hometown, AsAm-related extracurricular activities, Asian language knowledge, and having taken a population health course predicted increased AsAm knowledge. Social interactions with AsAm increased comfort with AsAm patients. Increasing year in medical school, more frequent exposure to AsAm patients on rotations, and prior travel to an Asian country were predictors of increased CC toward AsAm. Importantly, having completed a CC course was a significant predictor in all domains. In terms of explicit bias, students felt that AsAm patients were more compliant than Caucasian patients. Students also believed that Caucasian patients were generally more likely to receive self-perceived “preferred” versus “acceptable” care, but that in their own clinical experiences neither group received preferred care. Conclusion: Experience with and exposure to AsAm prior to and during medical school and CC courses may increase medical student knowledge, comfort, and CC with AsAm patients. Standardized and longitudinal CC training, increased simulations with AsAm patients, diverse student recruitment, and support for students to engage in AsAm-related activities and interact with AsAm may improve CC of future physicians towards AsAm patients and possibly other minority populations.
KW - Asian/Asian American patients
KW - Cultural competency
KW - Cultural humility
KW - Undergraduate medical education
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85102199763&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85102199763&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s12909-021-02568-0
DO - 10.1186/s12909-021-02568-0
M3 - Article
C2 - 33676520
AN - SCOPUS:85102199763
SN - 1472-6920
VL - 21
JO - BMC medical education
JF - BMC medical education
IS - 1
M1 - 148
ER -