Undergraduate education must include improving health of minority ethnic communities

BMJ 1998;317:1660 ( 12 December )

Letters

Undergraduate education must include improving health of minority ethnic communities

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EDITOR $---$ Lloyd's editorial discussed the prevalence and treatment of mental illness in the community among different ethnicgroups,¹ following a survey by the Policy Studies Institute.²He mentioned the government's commitment to improving the healthof black and minority ethnic communities and the formation ofhealth authority action zones. We believe that a vital componentof assisting the development of appropriate and culturally sensitiveservices, and consequently improving health, is to raise awarenessof these issues in the undergraduatecurriculum.

In collaboration with Birmingham Health Authority and University of Birmingham Healthcare Trust, the University of BirminghamMedical School is undertaking a project (funded by the Departmentof Health) to make medical education more responsive to communitydiversity, in particular ethnic diversity. Our aim is to developan integrated strand of teaching through all years of the curriculum,operating in both community and hospital basedspecialties.

The possibility of giving . . . [Full text of this article]