Cultural Awareness Through Medical Student and Refugee Patient Encounters

This paper presents findings from a qualitative investigation of cultural awareness that medical students developed in the context of providing medical care to refugees. The evaluation question was: What kinds of cultural awareness and communication lessons do medical students derive from clinical encounters with refugee patients? Thirty-eight semi-structured interviews were conducted to debrief a sample of 27 medical students. A multidisciplinary research team analyzed the debriefing texts following an interpretive “immersion-crystallization” approach. Three domains in cultural awareness training encompassed 13 key lessons or themes. Students reported enhanced awareness about the use of interpretation services and cross-cultural communication. A second set of lessons reflected awareness of the refugees’ cultural background, and a third learning component involved experiences of cultural humility.