Competency-Based Cultural Safety Training in Medical Education at La Sabana University, Colombia: A Roadmap of Curricular Modernization

Abstract

Issue: Cultural safety enhances equitable communication between health care providers and cultural groups. Most documented cultural safety training initiatives focus on Indigenous populations from high-income countries, and nursing students, with little research activity reported from low- and middle-income countries. Several cultural safety training initiatives have been described, but a modern competency-based cultural safety curriculum is needed. Evidence: In this article, we present the Competency-Based Education and Entrustable Professional Activities frameworks of the Faculty of Medicine at La Sabana University in Colombia, and illustrate how this informed modernization of medical education. We describe our co-designed cultural safety training learning objectives and summarize how we explored its impact on medical education through mixed-methods research. Finally, we propose five cultural safety intended learning outcomes adapted to the updated curriculum, which is based on the Competency-Based Education model. Implications: This article presents five cultural safety intended learning outcomes for undergraduate medical education. These learning outcomes are based on Competency-Based Education and the Entrustable Professional Activities framework and can be used by faculties of medicine interested in including the cultural safety approach in their curriculum.

Keywords:

• Cultural safety
• medical education
• competency-based education
• entrustable professional activities
• Colombia

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the traditional medicine users and academic community who made this project possible.

Contributors

JP, GZ, AC, and NA led the cultural safety initiative described in the article. JCG and AERT led the curriculum modernization at La Sabana University. JP and JCG wrote the first draft of the manuscript. AERT, GZ, CC, AC and NA refined and adjusted and the manuscript. All the authors approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Ethical approval

Not applicable.

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