WCMC-Q introduces cultural competence training to medical students in Qatar

"Our goal is to help our students, physicians and other health care professionals provide quality care by becoming more aware of the ways culture can affect their interaction with their patients," says Maha Elnashar, Director of the Center for Cultural Competence in Health Care at WCMC-Q.

"We believe this program, which is the first of its kind in Qatar, is essential here because the diversity among both physicians and patients is so pronounced." Qatar, despite its small size, has a population as diverse as the United States," Elnashar adds.

"Over a two-month period, we conducted a random sampling of patients in Hamad Medical Corporation hospitals in cooperation with HMC Medical Education Department. We found patients speaking more than 38 different languages. These patients also have different customs and beliefs related to health care and medical treatments," says Elnashar. "We believe our students and our physicians should understand the impact these differences may have on the way their patients view medical treatments or therapies."

For example, for some patients a recommendation to have an operation would have to be discussed by the family. Or a female patient might refuse the services of a male physician.

"We want our students and physicians to realize this is a cultural issue; it does not mean the patient doesn't agree with the physician or doesn't trust the physician's judgment," says Elnashar.

The program helps participants become aware of the differences that exist among people of different cultures.

"We help participants understand that it is ok to feel uncomfortable with the differences; but it isn't ok to simply ignore them or to think that what is effective for one culture can be applied to the other," says Elnashar.

"It reinforced for me the realization that patients of a certain nationality do not necessarily fit a mold, and we should not make assumptions about them," says fourth year medical student Aalia AlBarwani, who attended the cultural competency workshop.

In 2007, WCMC-Q and HMC established a medical interpretation program to provide medical students with interpretation services during their clinical training. The program was introduced after Elnashar and Huda Abdelrahim, medical interpreter and co-trainer, participated in an intensive training program provided by Cross Cultural Health Care Program, a non-profit organization funded by the US Public Health Services to improve access to quality health-care by ethnic communities.

Since then, WCMC-Q has signed an agreement with CCHCP to provide training for health care professionals in both medical Interpretation and cultural competency in Qatar. "We are delighted that we can make the training available to our partners and affiliates in Qatar," says Elnashar.

"Our goal is to make it easier for health professionals and patients to communicate in a culturally diverse setting," says Abdelrahim.

Building cultural services in the health-care institutions in Qatar serves the country's diverse population and helps WCMC-Q meet accreditation standards set by the Joint Commission International, the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education.