Cultural and Linguistic Competency and Implicit Bias Standards
Continuing medical education (CME) providers are required by state Assembly Bills 1195 and 241 to include components that address cultural and linguistic competency and implicit bias in CME activities. The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and the California Medical Association (CMA) have updated cultural and linguistic competency (CLC) standards and created standards for implicit bias (IB) that reduce health disparities, as well as comply with state law.
The Office of Continuing Medical Education at UC Davis Health is pleased to provide resources and guidance for educators designing, developing and delivering CME in alignment with these standards.
What is Cultural and Linguistic Competency (CLC)?
Cultural competency means a set of integrated attitudes, knowledge, and skills that enables a health care professional or organization to care effectively for patients from diverse cultures, groups, and communities. At a minimum, cultural competency is recommended to include the following:
- Applying linguistic skills to communicate effectively with the target population.
- Utilizing cultural information to establish therapeutic relationships.
- Eliciting and incorporating pertinent cultural data in diagnosis and treatment.
- Understanding and applying cultural and ethnic data to the process of clinical care.
Linguistic competency means the ability of a physician and surgeon to provide patients who do not speak English or who have limited ability to speak English, direct communication in the patient’s primary language.
What is Implicit Bias (IB)?
Implicit bias, meaning the attitudes or internalized stereotypes that affect our perceptions, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner, exists, and often contributes to unequal treatment of people based on race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, and other characteristics.
Implicit bias contributes to health disparities by affecting the behavior of physicians and surgeons, nurses, physician assistants, and other healing arts licensees.