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A Practical Guide for Medical Professionals Who Actually Want to Get It Right Not a checklist. Not a buzzword. Something much more human.
Written by
Maria V.
Nursing Educator
Picture this. A patient nods politely while you explain the treatment plan. They smile. They say “yes.” You leave the room feeling confident.
Two days later, they haven’t taken a single dose of the medication.
Sound familiar? Yeah. It happens more often than we like to admit.
Cultural competency - real cultural competency - isn’t about memorising festivals or knowing how to pronounce surnames (though that helps). It’s about understanding why people think, decide, hesitate, or trust the way they do. And in modern healthcare, where patients come from everywhere and nowhere at once, that understanding is no longer optional.
It’s foundational.
Formally speaking, cultural competency is the ability to deliver healthcare that respects and responds to patients’ diverse cultural beliefs, values, behaviours, and communication styles.
But let’s be honest - that definition feels… sterile.
In practice, cultural competency looks more like this:
It’s the quiet skill that sits underneath good communication. The kind examiners notice immediately in OSCEs - even if they don’t always say it outright.
According to World Health Organization, culturally responsive care improves patient outcomes, adherence, and trust. But anyone who’s worked on a ward already knows that. You can feel it when it’s missing.
Healthcare isn’t local anymore. Even small clinics see patients from multiple cultural, linguistic, and belief systems in a single morning.
Add to that:
…and suddenly, one-size-fits-all communication collapses.
In OSCE settings, this shows up fast:
Patients don’t just want treatment. They want to feel seen. And examiners - especially in countries like New Zealand, Australia, the UK - are watching closely for that.
Let’s clear up a common misunderstanding.
You do not need to know everything about every culture. That’s impossible. And honestly? A bit dangerous - it leads to stereotyping.
Cultural competency is not:
Instead, it’s curiosity with structure.
It’s asking:
Those questions open doors. Quietly. Respectfully.
You can’t separate cultural competency from communication. They’re tangled together, whether we like it or not.
Here’s where things often go wrong:
Patients may nod out of respect, not comprehension. Silence does not equal agreement.
Some cultures value directness. Others consider it rude or confrontational. A blunt explanation can feel reassuring to one patient and overwhelming to another.
In many cultures, doctors are authority figures - questioning them feels inappropriate. That doesn’t mean the patient agrees. It means they don’t feel permitted to disagree.
In OSCEs, candidates who actively invite questions tend to score higher. Not because they’re nicer - but because they’re safer clinicians.
Here’s a quiet truth: Most OSCE marking criteria don’t say “cultural competency” in big bold letters.
But it’s there. Between the lines.
Examiners notice when you:
And they definitely notice when you don’t.
A technically perfect answer delivered without cultural sensitivity often feels… flat. Mechanical. Slightly unsafe.
No theory dump here. Just things that work.
Instead of:
“You should take this medication daily.”
Try:
“How do you feel about taking medication every day?”
Small shift. Big difference.
Say things like:
“People often have different beliefs about treatment - there’s no right or wrong.”
It lowers defensiveness instantly.
Not as a test. As a safety net.
“Just so I know I explained it clearly - can you tell me how you’ll take this medication at home?”
Examiners love this. Patients do too.
For some patients, decisions are communal. Ignoring that can feel disrespectful - even if your intention is autonomy.
Ask first. Always.
In places like New Zealand, cultural competency extends into cultural safety - a concept deeply tied to Māori health and equity.
Cultural safety asks a harder question:
How does my own background, power, and bias affect this interaction?
It’s uncomfortable. That’s the point.
Care is only culturally safe if the patient feels it is. Not the clinician. Not the institution.
Let’s be real for a second.
We’ve all done at least one of these. Probably this week.
Cultural competency isn’t about perfection. It’s about awareness - and willingness to adjust.
Cultural competency isn’t an extra skill you add once everything else is mastered.
It is the skill that makes everything else work.
In OSCEs. On wards. In real life.
And maybe - just maybe - the moment you stop trying to “get it right” and start trying to understand, things shift. Conversations soften. Patients open up. Outcomes improve.
That’s not theory. That’s practice.
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