Exploring the implicit meanings of 'cultural diversity': a critical conceptual analysis of commonly used approaches in medical education.

Existing approaches to cultural diversity in medical education may be implicitly based on different conceptualisations of culture. Research has demonstrated that such interpretations matter to practices and people concerned. We therefore sought to identify the different conceptualisations espoused by these approaches and investigated their implications for education.

Discursive (mis)alignments in internationalization: The case of International Medical Programmes.

Purpose: International Medical Programmes (IMPs) form a distinctive modality in medical education, with diverse student populations, English as a language of instruction and 'globalized' curricula. A lack of common understanding of IMPs' purposes and role in the medical education landscape triggers critiques. This study aims to document the effects of different discourses used to justify the purpose of IMPs.

Learning in Tension: A Case Study Examining What Internal Medicine Residents Learn in the Ambulatory Care Setting.

Introduction: Medical care of patients with complex conditions has shifted to the ambulatory setting, whereas current knowledge of resident learning is primarily based on studies from inpatient settings. Preparing trainees to adapt to this shift necessitates an understanding of what internal medicine (IM) residents currently learn during ambulatory rotations. The aim of this study is to identify what residents learn during their ambulatory care experience.

Early career experiences of international medical program graduates: An international, longitudinal, mixed-methods study.

Introduction: Increasingly medical students pursue medical education abroad. Graduates from International Medical Programs (IMPs) practice globally, yet how to prepare students for an unknown international environment is complex. Following IMP graduates throughout their early careers, this study offers insights into gaps in current undergraduate education.

The 'exotic other' in medical curricula: Rethinking cultural diversity in course manuals.

Implementation of cultural diversity training in medical education faces challenges, including ambiguity about the interpretation of 'cultural diversity'. This is worrisome as research has demonstrated that the interpretation employed matters greatly to practices and people concerned. This study therefore explored the construction of cultural diversity in medical curricula.

Crossborder curriculum partnerships: medical students' experiences on critical aspects.

Background: The past decade has witnessed an upsurge in medical curriculum partnerships established across national boundaries to offer students at the foreign institution (host) a learning experience comparable to that of students at the exporting institution (home). However, since the learning environments and national healthcare contexts differ greatly between institutions, concerns have been raised in the literature about potential low quality of curriculum delivery, inadequate preparation of students to practice in the host country healthcare setting, and a culture shock for host students having to study a home curriculum..

Connected, attracted, and concerned: A Q study on medical crossborder curriculum partnerships.

Introduction: A new form of internationalization has been trending upward in the medical education realm: crossborder medical curriculum partnerships established to deliver the same, or adapted, curriculum to groups of geographically separated students. This study aims to investigate crossborder medical curriculum partnerships by exploring the experiences of teachers at the recipient institution who have a key role in delivering the program.

Methods: From four pioneering recipient medical schools, 24 teachers participated in a Q-sort study.

Twelve tips for crossborder curriculum partnerships in medical education.

Crossborder curriculum partnerships are a relatively new and fast-growing form of internationalization in which the curriculum that has been developed by one institution (the home institution) crosses borders and is implemented in another institution (the host institution). These partnerships aim to provide comparable learning experiences to the students in both institutions and are driven by a variety of motives, such as strengthening international networks, increasing financial gains, and stimulating research spinoffs. Although popular, crossborder curriculum partnerships are also criticized for their potentially low educational quality, failing to address fundamental differences in teaching and learning between the home and host institutions, and not addressing the educational needs of the host country's health care system.

How innovative and conventional curricula prepare medical students for practice in Sub-Saharan Africa: A comparative study from Mozambique.

Background: Medical education in Sub-Saharan Africa is in need of reform to promote the number and quality of physicians trained. Curriculum change and innovation in this region, however, face a challenging context that may affect curriculum outcomes. Research on outcomes of curriculum innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa is scarce.

An exploration of crossborder medical curriculum partnerships: Balancing curriculum equivalence and local adaptation.

Context: Worldwide, medical schools have entered into crossborder curriculum partnerships (CCPs) to provide equivalent curricula and learning experiences to groups of geographically separated students. Paradoxically, this process also involves adaptation of curricula to suit local contexts. This study has focused on challenges faced by medical Crossborder curriculum programme directors and strategies they employed to overcome these.

Students' and junior doctors' preparedness for the reality of practice in sub-Saharan Africa.

Background: Evidence tailored to sub-Saharan Africa on outcomes of innovations in medical education is needed to encourage and advance their implementation in this region.

Aim: To investigate preparedness for practice of students and graduates from an innovative and a conventional medical curriculum in a sub-Saharan African context.

Methods: Using mixed methods we compared junior doctors and fifth-year students from two Mozambican medical schools: one with an innovative problem- and community-based curriculum and one with a conventional lecture- and discipline-based curriculum.

Using activity theory to study cultural complexity in medical education.

There is a growing need for research on culture, cultural differences and cultural effects of globalization in medical education, but these are complex phenomena to investigate. Socio-cultural activity theory seems a useful framework to study cultural complexity, because it matches current views on culture as a dynamic process situated in a social context, and has been valued in diverse fields for yielding rich understandings of complex issues and key factors involved. This paper explains how activity theory can be used in (cross-)cultural medical education research.

Rethinking the globalisation of problem-based learning: how culture challenges self-directed learning.

Context: Medical schools worldwide are increasingly switching to student-centred methods such as problem-based learning (PBL) to foster lifelong self-directed learning (SDL). The cross-cultural applicability of these methods has been questioned because of their Western origins and because education contexts and learning approaches differ across cultures.

Objectives: This study evaluated PBL's cross-cultural applicability by investigating how it is applied in three medical schools in regions with different cultures in, respectively, East Asia, the Middle East and Western Europe.