State Medical Education Outreach Initiative

The State Medical Education Outreach Initiative curriculum ensures that medical students and other health care professionals understand that some aspects of “culturally competent” care – including access for limited English proficient persons and non-discrimination in health care on the basis of race, color and national origin – are not only tools for effective medical practice, but also may be legally required. 

Description of the Initiative

The National Institute of Health’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute has awarded a five-year grant to a consortium of 18 medical schools around the country for the purpose of developing curricula on cultural competency in medicine.  OCR is partnering with the National Consortium for Multicultural Education for Health Professionals (Consortium) to ensure that such curricula include discussion of Federal civil rights laws.

Stanford University School of Medicine (Clarence H. Braddock III, MD, MPH), University of Washington School of Medicine (David Acosta, MD), and Baylor College of Medicine (Paul Haidet, MD, MPH) are the coordinating centers for the Consortium.  Other Consortium awardees include:  the University of Maryland; Howard University; Wake Forest University; the University of Pennsylvania; the University of Alabama at Birmingham; the University of Illinois at Chicago; Rush University; The State University of New York at Buffalo; the University of California at Los Angeles and at Irvine; Morehouse College; Yeshiva University; and Drexel University.

Accomplishments and Next Steps

OCR and the Consortium sponsored two workshops at the American Association of Medical Colleges’ (AAMC) November 2007 annual meeting in Washington, DC.  The first workshop, entitled “Fostering Compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: an Educational Program,” featured case-based scenarios involving Title VI issues to discuss the role of physicians with respect to potential civil rights violations in healthcare settings.  The second workshop addressed the requirements of Federal civil rights laws regarding language access for limited English proficient persons, and effective communication for deaf and hard of hearing persons. 

In January 2008, OCR’s Region X Seattle Office utilized portions of the curriculum in delivering a presentation, emphasizing health professional’s Title VI responsibilities, to students in the University of Washington Masters in Health Care Administration Program.  In February 2008, OCR partnered with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities to present a workshop based on this curriculum, entitled “Disparate Treatment, Disparate Impact – Patient Rights and Your Responsibilities as Federal Recipients,” at the HRSA Bureau of Health Professions All Programs Meeting.  OCR also piloted this new curriculum at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in September 2008, by challenging emerging physicians, physician assistants and nurses to develop appropriate interventions and act as agents for social responsibility in the diverse healthcare settings in which they practice.

OCR and the Consortium are continuing their collaboration to secure publication of the Title VI curriculum in the AAMC’s “MedEdPORTAL,” a Web-based tool that facilitates the exchange of high-quality, peer reviewed educational materials to medical schools nationwide.