7.6 Structural Competence, Cultural Competence and Health Inequities

The faculty of a medical school ensure that the medical curriculum provides opportunities for medical students to learn to recognize and appropriately address biases in themselves, in others, and in the health care delivery process. The medical curriculum includes content regarding the following:

• The diverse manner in which people perceive health and illness and respond to various symptoms, diseases, and treatments
• The basic principles of culturally and structurally competent health care
• The importance of health care disparities and health inequities
• The impact of disparities in health care on all populations and approaches to reduce health care inequities
• The knowledge, skills, and core professional attributes needed to provide effective care in a multidimensional and diverse society

Supporting Data

The New 2025-26 DCI (Part 2)

Major change to 2023-24 DCI: change in language to add “structural competence”