Chapter 5: Pop Culture: An Instructional Strategy for Cross-Cultural Training in Medical Education

Culture is recognized by social scientists as the totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns created to meet the survival needs of a community, group or population. Brown (2004, 2006) defines culture as a dynamic, complex and ever-changing system of beliefs, values and practices that pass from one generation to the next, influencing thought, interaction and acclimatization to one’s environment. Smedley and Stith (2003) and Brown (2006) espouse that culture is the lens through which we view, define, compare and evaluate self, the world and one’s place in the social order; and that one’s own cultural lens is perceived as the only authentic reality and therefore affects attitudes and behaviors concerning cross-cultural interaction. Contemporary medical educators are beginning to recognize that cross-cultural competence is a crucial component in obtaining successful healthcare outcomes.