Implementing Cultural Humility Training: Empowering Learners and Surgeons to Address Bias and Improve Patient Care

Purpose: Bias and discrimination are prevalent in surgical training and practice, affecting the learning environment and patient outcomes. While many surgical training programs have recognized that awareness of cultural issues and discrimination are important, most lack structured approaches to address them. This study’s aim was to explore the benefits of implementing a cultural humility curriculum at our institution. Methods: Our cultural humility curriculum consisted of hour-long sessions presented at surgical grand rounds conference. A baseline survey was distributed in November 2021 to assess program culture. An evaluation survey was distributed in May 2024 eliciting demographics, number of sessions attended, feedback on relevance of the curriculum, and whether participants felt equipped with strategies for addressing discrimination. Chi-square tests determined association between number of sessions attended and question responses. Results: At baseline, 40% of those surveyed had not participated in a diversity training. Of 51 who responded to the evaluation, the majority were male (61%) and white (65%). 41% were medical students, 20% residents, and 33% attending physicians. 71% said the curriculum provided them strategies for addressing issues of discrimination and 44% said they had used the strategies. Those who attended >10 sessions used strategies more often (69%) than those who attended 6-10 sessions (62%) and 1-5 sessions (11%), p=0.011. Among medical students, 48% said the curriculum positively influenced their perception of the field and 29% said it positively influenced their desire to pursue a surgical specialty. Conclusions: A cultural humility training at our institution provided learners and surgeons with strategies to address discrimination in the workplace.