When people think of ‘cultural competency,’ they think of interacting successfully with entire cultures, but every patient in any setting, at home or abroad, is essentially a unique culture consisting of one person.
Thus, the skillset for operating in unfamiliar health landscapes during international medical work is the same needed at home. This so-called ‘soft skill’ is one of the most vital tools in any physician’s tool kit, significantly impacting patient outcomes and the relationship not only between patients and providers but between health services and entire patient populations.
This talk will review concepts and skills leveraged by culturally competent providers during international deployments with the goal of making these tools accessible for health care workers to have improved trust, outcomes and provider/patient satisfaction in any setting.