Critical Reflection on Own Beliefs for Cultural Competence in Medical Education: an Analysis of Tutors’ Reflective Narratives

Abstract

Critical reflection on own beliefs, within the context of cultural competence, has been acknowledged as an important skill doctors and medical students should have in order to enhance the quality of health care regardless of patients’ social and cultural background. Yet the guidelines for teaching students critical reflection on their own cultural beliefs are lacking. Based on the method of investigating short reflective narratives and Gibbs’ reflective cycle for development, this paper explores the experience of clinical communication tutors’ in examining cultural competence in OSCEs, how they felt, analyzed and concluded, and examines their account on how to construct a training model for dealing with such challenge in medical education.

Keywords

• criticial reflection on own beliefs
• cultural competence
• medical education
• reflective narratives