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Cultural Competence for International Medical Graduate Physicians: A Perspective

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International Medical Graduate Physicians

Abstract

International medical graduate (IMG) physicians are a highly diverse group of individuals on the basis of each person’s country of origin, acculturation, race/ethnicity, gender, age, religion/spirituality, socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation, among other background characteristics. Nonetheless, the majority migrate from middle- and low-income, tradition-centered, collectivistic societies to industrialized, individualistic societies. Upon graduation, IMG physicians are more likely to practice in underserved or rural areas and provide care to patients who are ethnic minorities, immigrants, or socially disadvantaged. IMG physicians usually undergo a stressful acculturation process to both the general culture and the healthcare subculture in the host country, in addition to coping with the stress inherent to residency training. Medical education in their home country and residency training in their host country seldom prepare them or help them cope with these challenges. This chapter provides an environmental scan and a focused review of the literature of the acculturation and cultural competency needs of IMG physicians, identifies gaps in the literature, and proposes an educational research and policy agenda for the future.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis, 2230 Stockton Boulevard, Sacramento, CA, 95817, USA

    Andres F. Sciolla M.D.

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of California, Davis, 18455 Chelmsford Drive, Cupertino, CA, 95014, USA

    Francis G. Lu M.D.

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  1. Andres F. Sciolla M.D.
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Correspondence to Andres F. Sciolla M.D. .

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  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Nassau University Medical Center, East Meadow, New York, USA

    Nyapati R. Rao

  2. Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA

    Laura Weiss Roberts

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Sciolla, A.F., Lu, F.G. (2016). Cultural Competence for International Medical Graduate Physicians: A Perspective. In: Rao, N., Roberts, L. (eds) International Medical Graduate Physicians. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39460-2_20

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