An assessment of cultural competence of first- and second-year medical students at a historically diverse medical school

Objective The purpose of this study was to measure knowledge of cultural variations of health beliefs and practices, especially among Hispanic patients, in a population of medical students at a historically black medical college. Study design The modified clinical culture competency questionnaire tapped demographic, self-perceived knowledge, skills, encounter-situations, attitudes, education, and training of medical students. The survey was administered on a course management system. The Hispanic health knowledge questionnaire measured student knowledge of Hispanic culture. Results The response rate was 51%. No significant gender or racial differences were noted. First-year medical students were more skilled in managing sociocultural issues (40.07 vs 33.70; P = .0089) and less skilled in education and training (1.35 vs 0.57; P = .0222) than second-year students. All students scored below the 60th percentile on the Hispanic health knowledge questionnaire. Conclusion These data point to the importance of cultural competency training in Hispanic health and may be used to develop an educational intervention to better address the health care needs of the local Hispanic population.