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We hope that this will help to answer some of the questions about our services.
Dr. R is an infertility specialist with a diverse practice located in New York city. His telephone call is the first of many calls that I will receive today. “There is absolute chaos in my office and what can YOU do to help?” “Well, Dr. R, why don’t you tell me what inspired you to call me?” I adjust the volume on my headset and begin to actively listen to him.
He proceeds to tell me his story, a story that is becoming more and more common every day because not only is the ethnic diversity of his patients changing, but the ethnic diversity of his staff is changing as well.
His Afghani practice manager has been with him for three years. Two of his three nurses are from The Philippines and are fairly new to the practice. The third nurse is from Nigeria and has been with him for a year. He has two laboratory technicians; one is from the local area and has been with him for four years. The other one is from Barbados and has been with him for two years. Finally, his embryologist is from the United States but she spent some time in the Peace Corps in Malaysia. It was she that suggested that he call me.
“She’s got some foolish idea that we need cross cultural training. What is cross cultural training? We just completed the required cultural competency training. I’ve got a practice to run and patients to see. I don’t have time for training. So what can YOU do to help me?”
“First, Dr. R, please allow me to clarify the differences between the two types of training. Cultural competency training is essentially customer service training when you are working with diverse patient loads like yours. It aims to ensure that patient needs are met and attempts to increase patient compliance rates by encouraging your staff to have understanding of the different cultural views of disease.
However, cross cultural training in essence aims to develop cultural awareness, knowledge and skills between people where a common cultural framework does not exist.
“And diversity training,” he asks.
“Diversity training does increase the participants’ cultural awareness, knowledge, and skills, but it is based on the assumption that the training will benefit your practice by protecting against civil rights violations resulting in court cases against your practice.”
“Sounds like we do need cross cultural training, doesn’t it?”
“Well, if you would like to get your train back on the tracks, I think that you do. Your staff, in particular your newcomers, may benefit from some expatriate coaching as well. If your practice manager could complete the needs assessment forms and get them back to me, I will be happy to send a proposal before close of business today. How does that sound?
We exchange phone and fax numbers and conclude our business. I remove my headset and smile as I hear another phone ring. The receptionist answers.
“DWA International, Experts in Expatriate Excellence, how can we help you?”
This is our company’s first blog post.
My name is Deanna Wharwood and I am the principal here at DWA International. The company is a cross cultural consulting firm specializing in assisting health care professionals through international transitions. We provide cross cultural training, coaching and consulting services to physicians, nurses and allied health professionals and their families.
We also assist U.S. immigrants in developing their small businesses.
The purposes of our blog is to:
1. Add value for our clients. We will be posting information, resources, articles of interest and special offers to keep our community informed.
2. Connect with others. Even if you are not a health care professional, international relocations can be challenging and frightening. However, you are not alone. We hope that you will find the information that we provide here helpful and we are happy to refer you to someone who will be able to assist you with your needs.
3. Our website is under re-construction. Please feel free to post here until our website is back online. We will respond to your questions and comments.
Please check back often for news and updates. Thank you for visiting.
