Melbourne Dental School, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. rmarino@.unimelb.edu.au
Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2012 Oct;40 Suppl 2:134-40. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0528.2012.00733.x.
Australia is a culturally and linguistically diverse country with a population derived from over 140 countries and including 240 language groups. Reflecting this, there has been a significant increase in cultural diversity among undergraduate dental students. It has been recognized that in order for dental students to interact and respond effectively to the diverse cultural needs of their patients, students themselves must be aware of cultural differences and respect patients' worldviews. In response to this challenge, dental students will need to have the theoretical knowledge to understand culturally-influenced health behaviours as well as the ability to communicate effectively with culturally diverse patients. Currently, the culture of dental students contrasts with the patients they treat, which may in turn affect the interaction between dental students and their patients. Given this context, new graduates need both to effectively communicate with patients from diverse communities and have an understanding of culturally influenced health behaviours. It has been proposed that dental graduates need to improve their knowledge of a variety of cultural values, beliefs, practices and attitudes. The literature in the area of cultural awareness and education for oral health professionals concentrates on both exploring health professionals' knowledge and attitudes toward transcultural care or the need for transcultural training. This paper provides an overview of the transcultural issues in oral health care which might confront dental students when treating culturally diverse patients. It will also discuss possible modifications to the dental curriculum to ensure that the future oral health workforce understands the complex health care needs of a multicultural society. This information will give planners and stakeholders an insight into the nature of the cultural issues which future dentists are likely to encounter while treating patients from diverse cultural backgrounds. This would help to establish the need to incorporate transcultural awareness modules to enhance quality of care and to respond effectively and sensitively to cultural issues.
澳大利亚是一个文化和语言多样化的国家，其人口来自 140 多个国家，包括 240 个语言群体。反映这一点的是，本科牙科学生的文化多样性显著增加。人们认识到，为了使牙科学生能够有效地互动并满足患者的多样化文化需求，学生自己必须意识到文化差异并尊重患者的世界观。为了应对这一挑战，牙科学生需要具备理解受文化影响的健康行为的理论知识，以及与文化多样化的患者有效沟通的能力。目前，牙科学生的文化与他们治疗的患者形成鲜明对比，这反过来可能会影响牙科学生与患者之间的互动。鉴于这种情况，新毕业生不仅需要与来自不同社区的患者有效沟通，还需要了解受文化影响的健康行为。有人建议，牙科毕业生需要提高对各种文化价值观、信仰、实践和态度的认识。口腔健康专业人员文化意识和教育领域的文献集中探讨了卫生专业人员对跨文化护理的知识和态度，或对跨文化培训的需求。本文概述了口腔保健中可能会遇到的跨文化问题，这些问题可能会在治疗文化多样化的患者时困扰牙科学生。本文还将讨论对牙科课程进行可能的修改，以确保未来的口腔卫生工作者理解多元文化社会的复杂医疗保健需求。这些信息将使规划者和利益相关者深入了解未来牙医在治疗来自不同文化背景的患者时可能遇到的文化问题的性质。这将有助于确定需要纳入跨文化意识模块，以提高护理质量，并对文化问题做出有效和敏感的反应。
