Virtual Mentor. June 2003, Volume 5, Number 6.

Test Questions

Test Questions: Caring for a Culturally Diverse Patient Population

June 2003, Volume 5, Number 6
  1. An important aspect of culturally responsive medical care is viewing our own values and norms as a culture:
    1. So that we have a yardstick against which to evaluate others’ values and norms.
    2. So that we will have a better understanding of how patients make their decisions.
    3. So that we can explain to patients of different racial or ethnic groups what we would do in a similar situation.
    4. So that we realize there is no one culture that is the majority culture from which all others deviate.
    5. B and D.

  2. Differences in health outcomes across racial and ethnic groups:
    1. Have genetic and environmental and cultural causes.
    2. Disappear when access to care is controlled for.
    3. Are due principally to culture-related variations in use of health services.
    4. Are entirely genetic.

  3. Which of the following is not an important element of culturally responsive medical care?
    1. Identifying disease prevalence and drug response differences among racial and ethnic groups.
    2. Treating patients as individuals in the context of research findings about disease prevalence in the groups which they are members.
    3. Understanding the languages and customs of all your patients.
    4. Ensuring that patients understand what you are doing and telling them.
    5. A and C.

  4. Which of the following is a benefit of cultural responsiveness care?
    1. Reduced disparities in health outcomes.
    2. Reduced inappropriate variations in use of health services.
    3. Minimizing the likelihood of miscommunication that could result in a liability claim.
    4. All of the above.

  5. According to the National Adult Literacy Survey, the percentage of the US population that falls into the categories "illiteracy" and "limited literacy" is about:
    1. 10 percent
    2. 29 percent
    3. 50 percent
    4. 72 percent

  6. Which of the following methods is NOT helpful in communicating with patients who have limited literacy?
    1. Show or draw pictures.
    2. Speak slowly.
    3. Limit the amount of information given at one time.
    4. Have a non-physician explain the illness and treatment to the patient in regular language.

  7. Which of the following is/are NOT true:
    1. Most variations in the human genome today were acquired before Homo Sapiens left Africa 100,000 years ago.
    2. Most variations in the human genome today were acquired after Homo Sapiens left Africa 100,000 years ago.
    3. Genetic differences have no significant effect on disease prevalence.
    4. There is disagreement among investigators about the degree to which genetic variability accounts for medically important differences in disease outcomes among racial and ethnic groups.
    5. A and D.
    6. B and C.

  8. Errors in cross-cultural communication:
    1. Can be easily avoided if everyone on the clinical team has the patient’s best interest in mind and acts accordingly.
    2. Can be difficult to avoid because the error often involves behavior and activities so commonplace that clinicians do not inquire about them.
    3. Can be reduced by listening to the patient’s narrative and asking questions.
    4. Are usually due to language barriers.
    5. A and D.
    6. B and C.

  9. In the University of Michigan law school case currently under consideration the US Supreme Court, a critical issue in the arguments presented is:
    1. Whether affirmative action admissions policies produce concordance between lawyers and their clients.
    2. Whether it is constitutional to consider race as a factor in admissions policies of institutions of higher learning.
    3. Whether diversity among class members provides an educational benefit.
    4. Whether the University of Michigan’s interest in providing diversity in the student body is significantly strong to justify curtailing some applicants, rights to equal treatment.
    5. A and C.
    6. B and D.

  10. The Concordance Theory:
    1. Posits that patients experience greater satisfaction from medical encounters when they see clinicians who are members of the same racial or ethnic group as themselves.
    2. Has no documented support in studies of patient satisfaction.
    3. Has been accepted by the US Supreme Court as a justification for affirmative action employment policies.
    4. A and C.
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