WCMC-Q leading the Middle East with its Center for Cultural Competence in Health Care

May, 2012

The Center for Cultural Competence in Health Care (CCCHC) at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) is being featured in one of the world’s most prestigious medical journals.

The June issue of Academic Medicine is to publish a lengthy article about the center, detailing its development, its aims and its successes.

The piece has been co-authored by Maha Elnashar, director of CCCHC; Huda Abdelrahim, trainer and medical interpreter at CCCHC; and Dr. Michael D. Fetters of the University of Michigan who is collaborating with WCMC-Q on research.

Ms. Elnashar said: “Academic Medicine is one of the leading peer-reviewed journals in the world. To publicize the story of our center in such a prestigious journal emphasizes the global interest and importance of cultural competence in our new world order. It is also a great recognition of our dedicated endeavors and WCMC-Q’s vision to promote global health.

"Sharing the details of our work will hopefully inform other institutions and hospitals in the region who are considering introducing similar initiatives, further enhancing health-care."

The center, of which WCMC-Q’s is the only one of its kind in the Middle East, educates students, faculty and health care providers about the cultural differences of nationalities, which may in turn affect how they treat patients. Instances could be as simple as an Arab woman refusing to be treated by a male doctor but may be as specific as medics recognizing when a bruised child has undergone coin-rubbing; not a form of abuse but a traditional Southeast Asian therapy that involves massaging the patient with hot oil and the edge of a coin.

Ms. Abdelrahim said: “WCMC-Q medical students will be working, more than ever before, in a multi-cultural society and world. At Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) alone, patients speak dozens of languages. Students must acquire skills to work with these diverse populations and understand their needs in order to provide the best possible treatments. Our focus is to prepare students to be open and curious about different cultures and to be aware of their own biases and stereotypes which could lead to health disparities.”

The center, part of WCMC-Q’s Department for Global and Public Health, was launched in 2009 with a view to preparing students for the myriad nationalities, languages and cultures they will encounter when treating patients at HMC in Qatar and when they embark on their residencies anywhere in the world including in the U.S.

To access the article, use the hyperlink: click here