Air Force community Essay

America is a country with diverse population groups that continue to increase every year. The medical community must keep up with the changing times and adapt their treatment practices to meet the demand of providing overall quality health care. There are many facets in which cultural differences come into play and especially during the patient provider relationship. It is important for the medical community and staff members to be prepared. In this paper, a discussion of the results from the assignment entitled the quality and culture quiz will be accomplished along with exploring and expanding on the answers that were incorrect. In areas that were answered incorrectly, responses will be proposed with situations that could improve the patient outcome in the future. (MSH, n. d. ). . The quality and culture quiz was taken twice, with an initial score of 14 and the second time was a 16 out of a total of 23 questions. Both times taking this quiz I felt I scored lower than expected. The quiz was taken twice because the initial score was so low. I was sure I could score better the second time, but the outcome was about the same before reading the correct answers. Even though I have been a medical assistant and an emergency medical technician for over 20 years it seemed to not have much of an impact when taking this quiz. In the Air Force community and further more in the medical community, diversity is touched upon but is not emphasized very much. In the clinic, we have patient rights and pamphlets available in Spanish but that is about it. I know we also have an interpreter listing for the base in case one is needed. I attribute my low score to not being exposed to many patients with diverse backgrounds and cultures and not having the training that so important in today’s society. As health care workers in the military, I believe we are sheltered to the outside happenings because we do not see or hear about community events outside of the base in our everyday work environment. (MSH, n. d. ). The areas that I did well in were: understanding that there could be cross-cultural confusion when explaining various medical information and procedures by the patient, patient’s may not report adequate health information because they cannot communicate well or the provider may misunderstand the particular symptom, as a provider being aware of personal biases and giving the proper treatment for the condition, ask direct and open-ended questions from the patient, practice creating a nonjudgmental atmosphere where the patient feels comfortable to try the medical advice of the provider, being aware that there could be underlying circumstances when not adhering to suggest medical treatment, and knowing that utilizing designated interpreters during patient encounters is ideal as compared to involving the family members because they can be often times they are too emotionally involved to tell an accurate story. (MSH, n. d. ). The areas where I need improvement and further comprehension are the impact of cultural competency on clinical outcomes, communicating and working with an interpreter, including the patient’s family during medical visits, being aware that some patient’s will seek customary healing measures before giving in to Western medicine and being aware of mannerisms from different culture groups. (MSH, n. d. ). Maintaining cultural competence in the positive and negative areas is a constant work in progress. There are changes every day that we as future health educators must work towards. It is a matter of continuing to read, research and apply what we have learned to every patient encounter and to always treat the patient as a loved one would want to be treated. It can only result in a positive result for all involved. (MSH, n. d. & MSH, 2009) References: Airhihenbuwa, C. O. (1995). Health and culture: Beyond the Western Paradigm. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc. Retrieved on March 15, 2010. Management Sciences for Health. (n. d. ). The Provider’s Guide to Quality and Culture. Retrieved on March 15, 2010 from http://erc. msh. org/mainpage. cfm? file=1. 0. htm&module=provider&language=English&ggroup=&mgroup= Management Sciences for Health. (2009). Stronger health systems. Greater health impact. Retrieved March 15, 2010 from http://www. msh. org/.