Teaching Cultural Competency through Global Health Education at Weill Cornell Medicine

Abstract

Background: Educating medical students to better understand the complexities of cultural competence, the social determinants and environmental determinants of health that are important and integral components of the medical school curriculum.
 Methods: In 2014, Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM) implemented a new curriculum, the adoption of which provided the means to enhance an existing global health program, informally introduced in 2009, and to address the issues of cultural competency. In this article, we share WCM’s experience in building and expanding its global health curriculum.
 Results: A hallmark of our program is the successful collaboration between students and faculty to create a multi-disciplinary global health program that incorporates electives, clinical field placement, and collaborative research.
 Conclusion: Key lessons learned through our experience include the necessity for strong faculty-student collaboration, full support from the administration, and building global partnerships. Our example could be a useful guide for other medical schools seeking to establish a global health education curriculum.

Thinking Globally in the Pursuit of Individual Identity: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the International Journal of Medical Students (IJMS)

“…Therefore, to materialize our vision, we have decided to proclaim our dedication to representing researchers regardless of their gender identity, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, geography, career stage, religious beliefs, socioeconomic level, national origin, language, marital status, and political ideology. IJMS has demonstrated this by publishing on important issues relating to gender, 3,[14][15][16] culture, [17][18][19][20] , and ethnicity. 21,22 Through our statement on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), we take a positive step towards representing the underrepresented and welcoming researchers, editors, authors, ambassadors, and reviewers from various communities irrespective of the abovementioned domains of diversity.…”

Expanding educational opportunities virtually in the time of COVID-19

“…OGHE oversees and coordinates the global health educational electives program for Weill Cornell medical students, as well as for visiting international medical students who wish to participate in a clinical elective at Weill Cornell Medicine. (For a more in-depth overview of the global health program, see Norris et al) 9 …”

“…OGHE oversees and coordinates the global health educational electives program for Weill Cornell medical students, as well as for visiting international medical students who wish to participate in a clinical elective at Weill Cornell Medicine. (For a more in-depth overview of the global health program, see Norris et al) 9 OGHE's educational programs pre-COVID-19 were inperson events, including a ten-week Intro to Global Health seminar series, global health career seminar series, and monthly Global Health Grand Rounds. With in-person events cancelled during COVID-19 lockdown, OGHE quickly pivoted to an online virtual format to host its seminar series.…”

The importance of incorporating systems thinking and One Health in global health classrooms: findings from a One Health simulation activity

“…The inclusion of global health in the curricula of future public health and health professionals plays an essential role in increasing the cultural competency of future professionals ( 1 , 2 ). Given the rapid pace of globalization in the last few decades and events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the field of global health has been expanding in an accelerated manner.…”