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National Health Organization Partners with Johns Hopkins to Host
Cultural Competency Course for Seattle, Los Angeles, and Princeton Health Care Providers
IAMMM Delivers Course to Improve Patient Care
WASHINGTON, DC - The Institute for the Advancement of Multicultural & Minority Medicine (IAMMM), a national health organization based in Washington, DC, recently convened a series of cultural competency courses in partnership with Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Seattle, Los Angeles, and Princeton.
Supported by an educational grant from GlaxoSmithKline, Cultural Competency as a Strategy for Addressing Health Disparities (6.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits) was held in Seattle, WA on January 23, 2008, at the Edgewater Hotel, 2411 Alaskan Way, Pier 67; Los Angeles, CA on January 25, 2008 at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel, 506 South Grand Avenue; and, Princeton, NJ on February 1, 2008, at the Hyatt Regency Princeton, 102 Carnegie Center.
The primary goals of Cultural Competency as a Strategy for Addressing Health Disparities were to detail the history of health care disparities, share strategies for improving quality care for ethnically diverse patients, and share best practices for advancing cultural competence in health care. Washington, along with other states across the country, have adopted legislation that requires health care providers - physicians, nurses, surgeons, and other providers - to participate in culturally-centered education that better helps them meet patient needs.
The course was instructed by Dr. Dennis P. Andrulis, Associate Dean for Research, School of Public Health and Director of the Center for Health Equality at Drexel University in Philadelphia; and, Dr. Thomas A. LaVeist, Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions, and William C. and Nancy F. Richardson Professor in Health Policy at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Andrulis and Dr. LaVeist are both widely-noted contributors to health publications on health disparities.
"There's no question that our country's demographics continue to change. Our healthcare providers must adapt in order to provide the best care possible. This course will help shed light on a number of cultural issues that can positively or negatively impact a patient’s treatment and recovery," said Richard Allen Williams, MD, IAMMM Board Chairman and founder of The Association for Black Cardiologists.
During the courses, local health leaders brought greetings and shared perspective on the importance of cultural competency training in their respective states. Susan A. Kelly, PhD, FAPS, president and CEO of Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science, presented remarks during the Los Angeles course. Robert Like, MD, MS, Professor and Director of the Center for Healthy Families and Cultural Diversity, Department of Family Medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, rendered remarks during the Princeton course.
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