Pharmacy faculty perspectives on Cultural Competence education in pharmacy schools

Abstract

Background: Faculties that teach cultural competence are in a great position to identify training gaps and improve the depth of teaching for pharmacy students. Objective: To assess the perspective of faculty on their perceived confidence and extent of teaching cultural competence (CC) content in the pharmacy curricula. Methods: A cross-sectional study using an adapted version of the Self-assessment of Perceived Level of Cultural Competence (SAPLCC) questionnaire. Data analysis included factor-level and item-level analysis using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: Out of the 70 study participants, 77.1% were female and the average age was 47.97 (±10.52). Faculty with prior training reported a higher level of confidence to teach CC content in three areas, “addressing population health needs” (p = 0.007), “ recognising disparity-related discrimination” (p = 0.017), and “recognising social determinants of health” (p = 0.03). The faculty’s years of experience had a positive impact on both the extent of teaching CC and confidence. Conclusion: Study findings indicate a gap to address training needs for faculty development on CC to prepare students for an increasingly diverse patient population.