An Overview of Cultural Competency Curricula in ACGME-accredited General Surgery Residency Programs.
OBJECTIVE
Cultural competency(CC) in surgical residency curricula is not the novel idea it was fourteen years ago when the ACGME challenged program directors to teach and assess six core competencies. CC is recognized as a component of "patient care", "professionalism", and "interpersonal and communication skills." The results of five programs (2004-2012) with CC curricula were identified in a 2013 paper by Ly and Chun. The primary objective of this paper is to provide the current status of CC curricula in general surgery residency programs.


METHODS
Three sources were used for this study. First, a four question survey on the current status of CC education was sent to program directors of ACGME-accredited surgery residency programs. Second, the lead authors from five programs previously reported in the 2013 paper were interviewed. Third, the survey mentioned above was resent to 52 residency programs who implemented New York University's (NYU) SPICE program, which has a CC component.


METHODS
Participants for the survey consisted of program directors of ACGME-accredited surgery residency programs. The interviews were conducted with the corresponding authors from the previous study by Ly and Chun.


RESULTS
Of the 256 surveyed, nine responded; seven stated that CC is not taught formally at their institution while four stated that they do not feel any part of CC curricula is missing from their program. Due to the low response rate, we identified and conducted interviews with general surgery residency programs with CC curricula. Of the five programs contacted, only three remain active and utilize Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) to teach cultural competency. One of the three, the SPICE program at NYU, has expanded to 52 other residency programs in the US.


CONCLUSIONS
Although the importance of CC has been identified in general surgery, formal curricula and documentation of implementation remains elusive.
John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Sagar S
SS
Shah
John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Francisco B
FB
Sapigao
Department of Surgery, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii. Electronic address: mariachu@hawaii.edu.
Maria B J
MBJ
Chun
D000068:Accreditation; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D065246:Culturally Competent Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003479:Curriculum; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000458:organization & administration; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education*; D006254:Hawaii; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008297:Male; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
Interpersonal and Communication Skills; Patient Care; Professionalism; cultural competence; general surgery; standardized patient; surgical resident education