Perspectives of junior doctor intercultural clinical communication: Lessons for medical education

Abstract

Introduction: Increasingly, junior doctors are culturally diverse due to globalisation of the tertiary education system and health workforce shortages. These graduates deliver healthcare where a proportion of the population may not have the English language skills to communicate effectively. The aim of this study was to examine perspectives of junior doctor–patient communication in a culturally diverse setting. Methods: We adopted a qualitative design with focus group discussions with junior doctors and semi-structured interviews with senior hospital staff at one regional hospital in Australia. We asked participants to discuss challenges and enabling strategies. There were five focus groups ..