Lessons in Multi-Cultural Patient Care

RSDM's cultural competency courses help students, faculty and practicing dentists communicate with patients from a wide spectrum of ethnicities and nationalities. But for students, true success in the course is a willingness to examine their own assumptions and discuss them openly, according to Dr. Rosa Chaviano, assistant dean of Student Admissions and Recruitment.

"No one is ever done becoming culturally competent,'' says Chaviano, who teaches a course called Culture and Communications in Healthcare.  "It’s a continuous learning process. More than anything, it’s having those conversations where we’re recognizing what we’re bringing to the table—the baggage, the biases—and discovering how we work with that to improve ourselves and become better health care providers.”

Learn more about the cultural competency lessons at RSDM in this months ADEA CCI Ledger Liaison   feature.