Cultural Humility Training in Surgery—Innovation in Format, Not Yet in Outcomes

In 2003, the Institute of Medicine released its call to action for cultural competency curricula to be incorporated into medical education 1,2 . Cultural competence ensures that a patient’s rights, diversity, values, beliefs, and expectations are acknowledged and validated to ensure equitable health care delivery. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requires all residency programs in all specialties to include training and assessment of resident skills in caring for diverse patients 3 . Despite this requirement, there is limited evidence that programs have implemented effective curricula and mentorship focused on cross-cultural care 4 . Furthermore, trainings in cultural competence primarily increase provider knowledge, attitudes and skills, but have had little or no effect on patient satisfaction and/or patient health outcomes to decrease disparities 5 .