RESIDENTS PERCEPTIONS OF TRANSCULTURAL PSYCHIATRIC PRACTICE

A questionnaire was distributed to 190 psychiatry residents to analyze the impact of three factors on residents' perceptions of their transc ultural practice: cultural identity of residents; degree of exposure t o patients from different cultures; and training in cultural psychiatr y. Results suggest that residents' perceptions vary according to the r esident's cultural origin. The training in psychiatry and the degree o f exposure to patients from different cultures had no significant infl uence on the residents' perceptions. Overall these results emphasize t he necessity to revise the cultural content of residents' psychiatry c urriculum to, among other things, raise residents' awareness of their own cultural identity.