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Cultural Competency: Dentistry and Medicine Learning from One Another
Author(s) -
Formicola Allan J.,
Stavisky Judith,
Lewy Robert
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of dental education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.53
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1930-7837
pISSN - 0022-0337
DOI - 10.1002/j.0022-0337.2003.67.8.tb03673.x
Subject(s) - ethnic group , cultural competence , prejudice (legal term) , health equity , health care , competence (human resources) , medicine , race (biology) , alternative medicine , medline , cultural diversity , family medicine , psychology , medical education , nursing , political science , public health , sociology , social psychology , pedagogy , gender studies , law , pathology
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) report Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care is serving as a catalyst for the medical profession to re‐examine the manner in which its institutions and training programs relate to cultural competence. This report found that racial and ethnic disparities exist in health care and that a lack of access to care does not fully explain why such disparities exist. The IOM study found bias, stereotyping, prejudice, and clinical uncertainty as possible contributing causes. The U.S. Surgeon General's Report on the Oral Health of the Nation also pointed to oral health disparities related to race, ethnicity, and culture. This paper discusses how medicine is responding to the Unequal Treatment report and the lessons to be considered for dentistry. Recommendations on how dentistry can apply the knowledge from this report to help reduce oral health disparities are suggested.