Journal of general internal medicine
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In caring exclusively for inpatients, hospitalists are expected to perform hospital procedures. The type and frequency of procedures they perform are not well characterized. ⋯ Hospitalists perform inpatient procedures more often and at higher volumes than non-hospitalists. Yet many do not perform procedures that are designated as hospitalist "core competencies."
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Training is essential for future health care providers to effectively communicate with limited English proficient (LEP) patients during interpreted encounters. Our aim is to describe an innovative skill-based medical school linguistic competency curriculum and its impact on knowledge and skills. ⋯ Our curriculum increased knowledge and led to skill attainment, each of which showed good durability for a cohort of students evaluated 3 years later. With a growing LEP population, these skills are essential to foster in future health care providers to effectively communicate with LEP patients and reduce health disparities.
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Because Pacific Islanders and Asian Americans have often been aggregated in federal health surveys, we assessed whether they differ substantially in important health measures. ⋯ Health surveys and policies should distinguish between Pacific Islanders and Asian Americans given the significantly higher rates of health risks and chronic diseases among Pacific Islanders.
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Comparative Study
Improving underrepresented minority medical student recruitment with health disparities curriculum.
Diversity improves all students' academic experiences and their abilities to work with patients from differing backgrounds. Little is known about what makes minority students select one medical school over another. ⋯ The required health disparities course may have contributed to the increased enrollment of URM students at PSOM in 2007 and 2008.
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Stereotype threat and health disparities: what medical educators and future physicians need to know.
Patients' experience of stereotype threat in clinical settings and encounters may be one contributor to health care disparities. Stereotype threat occurs when cues in the environment make negative stereotypes associated with an individual's group status salient, triggering physiological and psychological processes that have detrimental consequences for behavior. By recognizing and understanding the factors that can trigger stereotype threat and understanding its consequences in medical settings, providers can prevent it from occurring or ameliorate its consequences for patient behavior and outcomes. In this paper, we discuss the implications of stereotype threat for medical education and trainee performance and offer practical suggestions for how future providers might reduce stereotype threat in their exam rooms and clinics.