As an employee in the medical field do you believe you possess the people skills that it requires? To be successful as an employee and to develop your career requires understanding, humanitarian values and many other people-focused talents. The situation of Aboriginal healthcare, its imbalance and initiatives for its development have been in discussion for years. Working in a country with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people such as Australia makes cultural competence an important point in careers.

It may cause uncertainty, difficulties, and even unintended racism for IMGs and international students who are practising their training in medical practices with a high volume of Aboriginal communities. it may create confusion, conflicts and even unintentional racism. However, most medical practices are focused on the promotion of cultural competence and even show a preference for medical professionals with work experience in Aboriginal healthcare. Medfuture has and will always be focused on cultural competence in Aboriginal healthcare and will allow health professionals to find suitable practices focused on Aboriginal community health and to filter the best professionals in hiring medical staff.

Why is cultural competence important for medical professionals?

Cultural competence is vital for medical professionals to provide quality care to all patients. Cultural competence is the key to reducing health inequities for Aboriginal Australians and improving care quality. It requires more than awareness – it means having behaviours, attitudes and policies to work cross-culturally.  

Have you ever wondered if you have this cultural competence? Medical services require not only physical attention but also mental attention. A doctor should be able to recognize the patient’s background to make the patient more comfortable and the treatment procedure much smoother.  Intercultural communication comes into play in such situations. Once you identify the differences between your patient’s culture and your own, you can create a tense-free environment in your medical facility where both of you can feel comfortable and trust each other.

Understanding varied cultural perspectives on health enables providers to develop deeper, more trustworthy connections with patients by demonstrating respect and rapport. This support will be helpful in accurate diagnoses and in providing effective treatment plans tailored for each person. A culturally aware approach also promotes more equitable access and outcomes across diverse populations, especially in regional areas where there is a closed culture and limited access to healthcare. It also helps address systemic biases or barriers some groups face. This is a very common situation in urban areas where the Aboriginal groups are minorities and the health professionals are unaware of the cultural difference. Meeting various cultural health beliefs and practices compassionately fulfils important ethical obligations of non-discrimination and providing equal service to all in the sphere of Aboriginal healthcare.

Additionally, many healthcare accreditation and licensing standards now require proof of cultural competence training that corresponds to Aboriginal culture. This ensures that organizations and individual providers provide culturally relevant services to all communities they serve. For medical practices, this could also boost the patient base and earn a reputation among the local communities. Overall, gaining cultural knowledge and skills benefits both patients and practitioners through improved care, relationships, outcomes and healthcare equity for all.

How to educate medical professionals on cultural competence?

Developing cultural competence across an entire health system takes sustained effort in knowledge, awareness, skills and attitudes at all levels from administration to direct patient care to training. Past efforts in Australia focused only on specific situations, without coherent teaching standards. More research is needed on effective strategies, especially for Aboriginal healthcare. Overall, cultural competence must be systematically embedded in health services through standards and evaluation to truly benefit Aboriginal communities. The learning process of cultural competence involves two parties and it is a two-way learning process. It could either be a medical practice vs a patient or a patient vs a medical professional.

The most basic initial step is to promote awareness through training and educational materials. This helps build an understanding of diverse cultural beliefs, traditions, and health practices. Developing cross-cultural communication skills is also important. Role-playing, case studies, and simulations can all help to improve sensitivity and efficacy in multicultural encounters. Most training programmes use activities like these to help medical staff better connect with Aboriginal communities. The goal is to touch base between healthcare workers and the people they serve.

Medical professionals need to engage in self-reflection exercises. These activities help increase awareness of personal biases so they can provide more culturally sensitive care. Self-reflection and recognising biases should be both taught and practised.

Sustaining skills and knowledge also requires lifelong learning, as patient demographics continually change. Maintaining cultural competence needs to be a lifelong commitment. Professionals must continue their education as diversity increases.

In addition to sharing factual information, shaping positive attitudes is equally important. This helps foster acceptance and prioritise the diverse needs of different patient populations. Focusing on attitudes, as much as conveying facts, can create proper cultural understanding. Following techniques like lifelong learning, cultural competence as a commitment, and emphasising attitudes can help professionals effectively serve an increasingly diverse range of patients.

The goal is for medical personnel to approach each person’s care with respect for their cultural background and perspectives. The objective is to provide multiple learning opportunities over time to enable professionals to enhance their understanding, abilities, and dedication to treating patients from Aboriginal backgrounds who require personalised and distinctive therapies. These are only a few of the initiatives that can be taken to begin the integration of medical professionals into Aboriginal healthcare.

Which governmental and non-governmental organizations are participating in cultural competence practice?

The Australian government, as well as private organisations, have been involved in creating cultural competence among the medical staff and making the clinical environment more comfortable for the patients when serving in Aboriginal healthcare.

Several government bodies set standards and provide resources for culturally safe healthcare, including the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Standing Committee. Government agencies like the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare collect data and support training to improve Aboriginal health outcomes.

The Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives (CATSINaM) was established in 1997 to help close the health gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. CATSINaM has provided important guidance through policies and recommendations, shaping nursing curricula and best practices. In a 2017 statement, CATSINaM supported the ongoing development of cultural safety across healthcare staff, students and services.

The statement recognised this relies on achieving parity within the nursing and midwifery workforce. There is an interconnection between cultural safety and cultural competence. To be culturally safe, practitioners must be culturally sensitive through an ongoing path of gaining cultural competency. Both are needed to ensure Aboriginal Australians receive equitable and appropriate healthcare. CATSINaM continues advocating for these important approaches.

Aboriginal Allied Health Australia (IAHA) was founded in 2009 by a group of allied health professionals and incorporated in 2013. According to the IAHA, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers perform a crucial part in healthcare (especially in Aboriginal healthcare) and the health staff must be culturally competent to make a difference in health outcomes in Aboriginal healthcare.

In defining reconciliation, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) (2017) and national professional boards have frequently used a collaborative approach. AHPRA initiated discussions among professional bodies to begin reconciliation planning in 2015. The overall strategy was directed at professional health organisations looking for methods to narrow the health gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Aboriginal Australians and to develop Australian Aboriginal healthcare. While the initiative is still in its early stages, we may conclude that health professional boards in Australia prioritise reconciliation.

At a state/territory level, health departments implement cultural training and programmes to develop cultural competence. Aboriginal community-controlled health services are primarily concerned with meeting the needs of their communities. Universities contribute to research and education through dedicated centres Meanwhile, non-profit organisations collaborate with the government and communities to promote cultural learning and respect in all sectors through policies, reconciliation programmes, and workplace guidelines. Across Australia, various organisations collaborate to increase understanding and respect for diverse cultures through setting frameworks, collecting data, conducting research, providing educational resources and directly delivering culturally appropriate services and programmes.

How does cultural competence support your Australian medical career?

An Aboriginal person’s perspective on health and wellness may differ from that of a nurse or allied health practitioner. Many factors affect the views of the patient and most of it is backed by their own culture and their personal view against a person of a different culture. Medical personnel should recognise where they are in their continual path of learning about other cultural perspectives on health since it helps them provide conflict-free, satisfied medical services. This creates a complex situation when dealing with aboriginal healthcare however the outcome and the quality of the treatments shall have a positive impact on the long-term career goals.

If you are a medical professional or an IMG looking for potential job opportunities and scrolling through job offers on Medfuture, you might’ve come across employers specifically looking for medical professionals who have experience working with Aboriginal communities. Hence any experience you have working in such a background will be a huge addition to your resume and will supplement it in the long run. Awareness of differing views is important for practice, allowing practitioners to better relate to and support Aboriginal patients. It also aids personal and professional relationships by enhancing cultural understanding. Recognising steps in one’s learning promotes culturally safe care, respectful interactions, and the ability to see issues from others’ points of view. This benefits both practitioners and the people they serve.

Look to Medfuture today!

Medfuture recognises the significance of Aboriginal medical care. If you are a medical professional looking to serve the Aboriginal communities and develop your career with appropriate cultural competence Medfuture regularly job posts compatible medical facilities that are aimed at uplifting the Aboriginal communities.