Faculty of Education - Theses

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Subject: Australia × Subject: Study and teaching × Start date: 1946 × Type: Masters Research thesis × Author: Jones, Yaqirah C. V. W. ×

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    Multicultural education: medical practitioners' experiential perspectives
    Jones, Yaqirah C. V. W. ( 2006)
    This is a qualitative study exploring the experiences of medical practitioners in conducting consultations where the patient is from a non-English-speaking background. The purpose of this study is to present an overview of the medical practitioners' experiences in conducting culturally diverse consultations and their perception of their preparedness. This is to develop an understanding of their needs and their suggestions for training to ensure a high quality service is available for all. It was found that the combination of four levels of investigation into this subject was not in available literature. Data was collected from current medical practitioners, undergraduate medical students and their pedagogy team, prescriptive documents of the students' education, plus two affiliated observers. Questionnaires, interviews and document exploration were the data tools. The survey focused on the training of undergraduate students and their perceptions of their professional preparedness. Current practitioners, the undergraduate medical pedagogy team, a medical interpreter service manager, and a hospital unit manager were all interviewed. The prescriptive documents included the university handbook, the appropriate curriculum components and the Medical Council's Guidelines. Analysis of the data revealed a dichotomy between the prescriptions of multi-cultural education and the perceptions of the medical professions' preparedness in the subject. It also revealed that they believed they needed more preparation for multi-cultural consultations and provided suggested solutions. It is concluded that the medical practitioners require ongoing education, pre and post-registration, in cross cultural awareness and sensitivity. This is to ensure the same quality of care is available for the English-speaking background patients and the non-English speaking background patients. It is established that further investigation is required in order to determine the cause of the disparity between the prescribed education and the practitioners' preparedness.