With the CBME curriculum, all medical undergraduates are supposed to undergo Foundation Course from 2019. The slides were prepared towards the session on "Importance of Cultural Competence in Medicine".

1. Importance of Cultural
Competence in Medicine
Dr Ananya Chakraborty
Professor & HOD Pharmacology, VIMS & RC
Deputy Co-ordinator, ADR Monitoring Centre (AMC PVPI)
Internal Auditor for Hospitals, NABH
Ethics Committee Vice-Chair Manipal Hospital, Bangalore
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-ananya-chakraborty-8ab12ab
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2. What Do You See?
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3. A Belief in Drishti/Nazar?
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4. Learning Objectives
• Define culture and related concepts
• List the Social Determinants of Health (SDH)
• Identify the relationship of SDH to culture
• Compare and contrast how different racial,
ethnic, and religious backgrounds can
influence health beliefs and practices
• Justify reasons for using trained interpreters
and translators in patient care
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5. What is Culture?
Way of life of groups of people YES/NO
Ideas, customs, and social behavior of a society YES/NO
Shared patterns of behaviors and interactions,
cognitive constructs and understanding
learned by socialization
YES/NO
Religion, food, what we wear, how we wear it,
our language, music, how we sit at the table,
how we greet visitors
YES/NO
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6. What is Cultural Competence?
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Attitudes, knowledge, skills, and values
that an individual has and uses in
working effectively in a cross-cultural
environment
Means of addressing culture-specific
health needs

7. Social Determinants of Health
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8. Social: Indian Granny in USA
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9. 9
HEALTH CARE

10. Education: Traditional Practices
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https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health-news/Breast-milk-cure-for-sore-eyes-ruins-infants-
cornea/articleshow/54506276.cms

11. Economic Stability and Health
11https://odishatv.in/odisha/2-more-snake-bitten-persons-die-in-odisha-as-superstition-remains-first-resort-393757

12. Adherence to Medication:
A Global Problem?
• A 70-year-old Hispanic woman stopped taking
her cholesterol and hypertension medications
6 weeks after a bypass surgery
• She stated that she feels better, has
recovered, and no longer needs medications
• The patient's primary care provider tried to
explain the importance of using her
medications as directed, but failed to do so
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Piscatella JC. Thirty-three years after bypass surgery: a heart patient's perspective. Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent). 2010;23(3):266–269.
doi:10.1080/08998280.2010.11928633

13. Caring for Fasting Patients during
Ramadan
• Eye drops during fasting hours of Ramadan
would break the fast?
• Diabetic patients should be counseled on the
warning signs of hypoglycemia?
• Clear guidelines are not always available for
managing all diseases, an individualized
approach is needed?
Abolaban H, Al-Moujahed A. Muslim patients in Ramadan: A review for primary care physicians. Avicenna J Med. 2017;7(3):81–87.
doi:10.4103/ajm.AJM_76_17
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14. Conservative Culture: Lack of
Awareness about Breast Cancer
14Singh S, Shrivastava JP, Dwivedi A. Breast cancer screening existence in India: A nonexisting reality. Indian J Med Paediatr Oncol. 2015;36(4):207–209.

15. Exorcism and Mental Illness
Across Different Cultures
• In some cultures, psychological disorders:
Individual are labeled as possessed
• To drive out the demons or evil spirits, family
members or religious figures turn to exorcism
• An exorcist is typically someone of religious
faith who is thought to be able to channel
benevolent powers and cast out evil spirits
15https://www.seminare-ps.net/Rel-Psy/Belief_in_demons_and_exorcism.pdf

16. Exorcism:
Dausa district of Rajasthan
16https://www.easemytrip.com/travel/insanely-mysterious-temples-in-india-and-their-strange-rituals-will-give-you-shocks.html

17. An Example from Tripura
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18. Is Linguistic Competency Linked
to Cultural Competency?
Capacity of an organization and its personnel
– To communicate effectively
– Convey information in a manner that is easily
understood by diverse audiences
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19. Any Questions?
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20. Thank You
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