Dialog across difference #17: Healthy communication across cultures

Great peer-reviewed research on many aspects of conflict transformation can be found in medical journals. Why is this, when scant pieces like this are found in Political Science or Security Studies journals, for example?

Medicine is a constant learning challenge. Also, it's an economic sector with funding. Since patients and physicians are quite diverse, cultural competency in care becomes a mandate, not just a nice option. Finally, published research is a major help to a career in the medical field. 

For instance, a 2014 Australian conference featured a workshop in cross cultural competencies. A range of skills were studied and demonstrated and the final exercise was for each participant to design their individual learning plan toward strong cross cultural competency in their work. 

This is reminiscent of Anthony Jackson's admonition during Portland Peace Team trainings to use his "grocery store" model--yes, you can see all the various items, but select only what you really want and, in the case of learning, have the bandwidth to work on. Educational theorists point out that andragogy--adult learning--is built best along those lines. Pedagogy--child learning--is far more generalized and inclusive, assuming virtually zero pre-developed knowledge and almost no reasonable discernment about utility of particular knowledge. 

Thus, taking trainings and then constructing a personal plan of further learning to precisely suit individual goals makes excellent sense.

Patel, B. (2015). Communicating across cultures: proceedings of a workshop to assess health literacy and cross-cultural communication skills. Journal of Pharmacy Practice & Research, 45(1), 49–56. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.pdx.edu/10.1002/jppr.1062