Institute of Leadership, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Ballymoss Road, Sandyford Industrial Est, Dublin, 18, Ireland.
Division of Population and Health Sciences, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, 123 St Stephen's Green, Dublin, 2, Ireland.
BMC Med Educ. 2019 Mar 18;19(1):86. doi: 10.1186/s12909-019-1514-1.
The internationalisation of higher level education and the profiles - nationalities, ethnicities and cultural identities - of students who migrate to undertake higher level education programmes in a different country are increasingly complex. This article explores the way in which cultural backgrounds impact the student's experiences of an international medical school, and how these experiences have the potential to inform the development and design of student support services for those students who are not coping well with the transition.
Thirty one first year students were interviewed by sixteen second year students who were trained and supervised by an experienced researcher. Three focus group discussions were also held.
While many international students had lived in more than one country and region and spoke several languages, most reported difficulties in forming intercultural friendships, especially interactions outside of the academic setting. Some of the challenges faced were similar to what has been reported in the literature, such as difficulties with language and loss of established friendship networks. Other challenges to emerge in this study were the complex interrelatedness of the daily life challenges facing international students regarding the forming and importance of intercultural relations, which is impacted by gender, the presence of alcohol, languages spoken (in addition to English, which was the language used for medical education), and the dominance of the regional grouping the student belongs to.
The challenges of adaptation and intercultural relations are increasing in complexity and it is important for higher level institutions who enrol international students to understand the nature of the pressures these students experience, outside as well as within the academic environment, and to support them in managing these transitions.
高等教育的国际化以及在不同国家攻读高等教育课程的学生的背景（国籍、种族和文化身份）越来越复杂。本文探讨了文化背景如何影响学生在国际医学院的学习经历，以及这些经历如何为那些在适应过程中遇到困难的学生提供学生支持服务的发展和设计提供信息。
由接受过经验丰富的研究人员培训和监督的 16 名二年级学生对 31 名一年级学生进行了访谈。还进行了三次焦点小组讨论。
虽然许多国际学生曾在多个国家和地区生活过，并能说多种语言，但大多数人报告说难以建立跨文化友谊，尤其是在学术环境之外。他们面临的一些挑战与文献中报道的类似，例如语言困难和失去已建立的友谊网络。本研究中出现的其他挑战是国际学生在日常生活中面临的形成和建立跨文化关系的挑战的复杂相互关联性，这些挑战受到性别、酒精的存在、除英语外所说的语言（英语是医学教育所用的语言）以及学生所属地区群体的主导地位的影响。
适应和跨文化关系的挑战变得越来越复杂，招收国际学生的高等教育机构了解这些学生在学术环境内外所经历的压力的性质，并为他们提供支持以管理这些过渡非常重要。
