Physicians’ Self-assessment in Intercultural Clinical Communication in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: A Pilot Study

Background: Physicians working with multicultural populations need to know how to determine the patients understanding of their illness. Physician working in Saudi Arabia must be aware of the diverse cultural and linguistic properties of people living there. They need to know how language and culture can influence clinical communication with patients and the way they provide them care. Aim: This study aims to explore physicians’ self-assessment in intercultural communication in relation to care for patients from diverse ethnic/cultural backgrounds in order to identify training needs of physicians. Subjects and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study using self-administered questionnaire filled in by 254 working physician in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). A good internal consistency coefficient (Cronbach’s alpha) of the questionnaire was obtained. Descriptive statistics were used and ANOVA has been employed for assessing statistical differences between groups. Results: Respondents rated themselves more competent in basic clinical skills with mean score 4.33±0.58, then general intercultural skills came next (3.89±0.69) followed lastly by intercultural communication skills (3.29±1.00). Regarding intercultural communication skills and general intercultural skills, we found statistically significant differences (p 0.05) in mean scores between respondents with reference to their age group, rank, total duration of work in KSA, previous work experience in other countries than home country and exposure to training in cultural competence. Conclusion: Training in cultural competence is an important factor that leads to better self-rating in intercultural communication skills. Physicians should be provided with real opportunities for training in cultural competence.