Developing Culturally Sensitive Care in Japan: Comparison of Competence in Healthcare and Education

Competence in culturally sensitive care in healthcare has been included into the Japanese medical school curriculum since 2001 and will be integrated into the Japanese nursing school curriculum in 2018. Since the concept of competence in culturally sensitive care is new to the Japanese healthcare education, we need to gain knowledge about the concept from other forward-thinking countries. However, when introducing the concept of competence in culturally sensitive care from foreign countries to Japan, the knowledge and experiences of those countries should be considered

Teaching Medical Students about Communicating with Patients with Major Mental Illness

Persons with major mental illness often have chronic diseases and poor physical health. Therefore, all practicing physicians should learn about communicating effectively with these patients. Few efforts to teach medical students communication skills have specifically targeted patients with major mental illness. Indeed, most of the limited literature on this topic is decades old, predating significant scientific advances in cognitive neuroscience and psychiatric therapeutics and changes in social policies regarding major mental illness. To gather preliminary insight into training needs, we interviewed 13 final-year students from 2 Boston medical schools. Students' observations coalesced around 4 themes: fears and anxieties about interacting with persons with major mental illness; residents “protecting” students from patients with major mental illness; lack of clinical maturity; and barriers to learning during psychiatry rotations. Educational researchers must explore ways to better prepare young physicians to communicate effectively with patients with major mental illness