The Social History…It's About the Patient - Culture and All

Abstract

Abstract Introduction It is important to encourage students to confront the importance of culture in the patient-physician interaction. We created this four-part, case-based educational module to demonstrate the importance of social history-taking skills within the clinical context. When developing the case for this module, the authors solicited the expertise of the physician diagnosis faculty director to ensure the fundamental principles put forth were consistent throughout the curriculum. In this module students explore the case of Ms. Graupera whose medical history, social history, and culture have shaped the differential diagnosis, and the patient's perception of their illness. Methods This case is designed to be delivered in small-group interactions with faculty facilitators (groups of 10–15 are ideal) followed by a large-group lecture discussion. During this case, students work to define the concept of culture and how it can be ascertained during the social history. The small-group setting allows faculty to better assess student's diagnostic ability as well as their ability to understand the critical nature of a patient's history in obtaining the correct diagnosis. Results This resource has been used successfully for the past 3 years as part of a second-year clinical foundations course in undergraduate medical education. Discussion This case successfully exposes students to culturally specific terms, traditions, and manifestations of illness while emphasizing the important aspects of culture for both patients and physicians. This educational module can be offered either within a cultural competency curriculum, gastroenterology sequence, or a physical diagnosis curriculum. At our institution it was specifically placed within the physical diagnosis course that occurs before the GI sequence.

Keywords

• Health Equity Research
• Social History
• Residence Characteristics
• Interviews as Topic