“Losing Culture on the Way to Competence: The Use and Misuse of Culture in Medical Education” was written by Dr. Jessica Gregg and Dr. Somnath Saha. This article focuses on the need for cultural competence in the health care community. The article begins with the idea of “culture distance” which refers to the discomfort that may be present between immigrants and western practices due to the difference in morals (pg. 542). The authors address the topic of cultural competency in many aspects including: culture and health, misuse of culture, and the implications for health care education.
Dr. Gregg and Saha define culture as, “a set of behaviors and guidelines that individuals use to understand the world and how to live in it (pg. 543).” They further explain how cultures interpret diseases and ailments differently and how physicians can improve their regimens if they understood their patient’s perception of the illness. The article then discussed that incorporating cross-cultural education to health professionals can decrease health disparities because it can lead to creating more effective and culturally conscious treatments.
Another aspect that was examined was the misuse of culture, specifically stereotypes as well as the fusion of concepts. The idea that culture is not simple and linear – it is a complex
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They outline four reasons why they suggest this education. First, health care and health are intertwined in culture. Second, being able to learn about these cultures will not become the solution for health disparities – but attempting to close this cultural gap will help with reducing health disparities. Third, learning about the concepts of race and culture will not eradicate disparities of racism because not everyone shares the same beliefs, even within a cultural group. Fourth, culture is always changing. And ultimately, there are different situations and the context is