Wilkinson B, Phan N, Zhong QAbstract
With a diverse population in the United States, there are various races, ethnicities, and cultures. One of the minorities, the Asian American population, has yet still faced healthcare disparities due to cultural insensitivity and the model minority mentality. We hypothesize that there is a lack
of Asian cultural competency among the medical community. We seek to assess current population and census statistics related to both the Asian American physician and Asian American populations; related to cultural competency amongst medical practitioners, educators, and students. Statistics through studies published by the United States Census Bureau, AAMC, and AACOM will be collected and compared. Current health disparities faced by Asian Americans will be gathered from the CDC and other reputable sources. Finally, relevant cultural competency information will be collected from medical practitioners, educators, and students from the Utah and Colorado areas via a questionnaire. Preliminary data shows that 6% of the USA population, 17% of all physicians, and 23% of allopathic medical students are Asian. A higher percentage of Asian adults (19.4%) have no usual source of health care compared to those of the white population (12.9%). The ongoing survey expects to find the Asian cultural competency among the medical community. The results of this study will serve as a foundation for future research investigating strategies to enhance Asian cultural competency to potentially decrease the health disparity plaguing Asian Americans. It is of vital importance for the medical community seeking to advance diversity, inclusivity, and equity amongst practitioners and between practitioners and patients.