Cultural Awareness & Self-Assessment
What is the primary purpose of healthcare practitioners understanding their own cultural identity?
A. To become experts in global cultures
B. To improve technical skills
C. To recognize how their own values and beliefs influence patient interactions
D. To identify patients’ cultural traits
C. To recognize how their own values and beliefs influence patient interactions
Cultural competence begins with self-awareness. Recognizing how personal beliefs shape interactions helps prevent value imposition on patients.
Social location refers to:
A. Geographic residence
B. Income alone
C. One’s position in society shaped by intersecting identities
D. Professional status only
C. One’s position in society shaped by intersecting identities
Social location reflects overlapping identities such as race, class, gender, sexuality, and religion.
A generalization is best defined as:
A. A broad statement based on limited or incomplete information
B. A harmful belief
C. A discriminatory action
D. A verified scientific claim
A. A broad statement based on limited or incomplete information
Generalizations simplify information but are not inherently negative until misused.
Privilege is best defined as:
A. Individual achievement
B. Professional success
C. Unearned advantage based on group membership
D. Economic wealth only
C. Unearned advantage based on group membership
Privilege is systemic, not earned through effort alone.
Bias refers to:
A. Objective reasoning
B. Ethical neutrality
C. Cultural knowledge
D. A tendency to think or act in a certain way based on assumptions
D. A tendency to think or act in a certain way based on assumptions
Bias influences judgment, often unconsciously.
What is the first step in achieving cultural competence?
A. Learning patient languages
B. Engaging in self-examination of one’s cultural background
C. Adopting other cultures’ practices
D. Attending diversity workshops
B. Engaging in self-examination of one’s cultural background
Cultural awareness precedes cultural knowledge. One must understand oneself before understanding others.
Which question best reflects social location self-assessment?
A. What certifications do I hold?
B. How long have I practiced?
C. What medical technologies do I use?
D. How do my race, class, gender, and sexuality shape my worldview?
D. How do my race, class, gender, and sexuality shape my worldview?
Social location focuses on how identity influences perception and behavior.
When does a generalization become a stereotype?
A. When it is positive
B. When it is widely shared
C. When it becomes standardized without verification
D. When it is intentional
C. When it becomes standardized without verification
Lack of verification and repetition turn generalizations into stereotypes.
Privilege is called a paradox because
A. It affects everyone the same way
B. People who have it often do not notice it
C. It is based on individual effort
D. It disappears over time
B. People who have it often do not notice it
Privilege is considered a paradox because it operates at a structural, group level, but individuals who benefit from it often do not notice it. This invisibility can make privilege difficult to recognize or acknowledge, especially by those who possess it.
Why is unchecked bias problematic in healthcare?
A. It increases efficiency
B. It simplifies decision-making
C. It can reduce diagnostic clarity and quality of care
D. It improves consistency
C. It can reduce diagnostic clarity and quality of care
Bias interferes with accurate assessment and patient-centered care.
During self-assessment, healthcare practitioners should primarily focus on:
A. Comparing values with colleagues
B. Learning international medical practices
C. Understanding their social location and how it shapes interactions
D. Evaluating clinical credentials
C. Understanding their social location and how it shapes interactions
Social location directly affects perceptions, communication, and power dynamics in care.
Why might healthcare practitioners struggle to recognize their own culture?
A. They lack education
B. They reject cultural identity
C. They belong to a dominant group that is unmarked and seen as “normal”
D. They are culturally isolated
C. They belong to a dominant group that is unmarked and seen as “normal”
Dominant cultures often appear cultureless because they are treated as the norm.
A stereotype is best described as:
A. A researched conclusion
B. An undifferentiated attribution applied to all members of a group
C. An individual opinion
D. A cultural tradition
B. An undifferentiated attribution applied to all members of a group
Stereotypes deny individuality and cultural complexity.
Which example best illustrates white privilege?
A. Experiencing discrimination
B. Being stereotyped negatively
C. Being able to shop without fear of being followed
D. Facing racial profiling
C. Being able to shop without fear of being followed
Privilege involves freedom from burdens others routinely face.
Perception is best understood as:
A. Reality itself
B. How individuals interpret reality based on experience and belief
C. Clinical accuracy
D. Evidence-based judgment
B. How individuals interpret reality based on experience and belief
Perception shapes interpretation, not facts.
Why is self-assessment critical in healthcare practice?
A. It helps identify assumptions, biases, and comfort levels
B. It standardizes patient care
C. It replaces professional training
D. It eliminates cultural differences
A. It helps identify assumptions, biases, and comfort levels
Self-assessment allows practitioners to recognize and manage biases rather than unknowingly act on them.
Understanding one’s social location helps practitioners primarily to:
A. Predict patient behavior
B. Reflect on how they relate to people different from themselves
C. Avoid ethical responsibility
D. Increase authority
B. Reflect on how they relate to people different from themselves
Awareness improves relational competence and empathy.
A prejudice occurs when:
A. Cultural awareness increases
B. A stereotype is positive
C. Information is verified
D. Negative thoughts and feelings become attached to a stereotype
D. Negative thoughts and feelings become attached to a stereotype
Prejudice involves emotional judgment and fuels discrimination.
Healthcare practitioners are often privileged relative to patients because they:
A. Control access to information, services, and decision-making
B. Are morally superior
C. Have identical social locations
D. Share all patient experiences
A. Control access to information, services, and decision-making
Power and expertise create inherent asymmetry in healthcare relationships.
An “inside-out” approach to professional growth emphasizes:
A. Changing patients first
B. Eliminating emotion
C. Enforcing rules
D. Beginning with self-reflection and awareness
D. Beginning with self-reflection and awareness
Sustainable change starts internally.
The ultimate goal of cultural awareness and self-assessment is to:
A. Become culturally neutral
B. Avoid cultural discussions
C. Apply identical care to all patients
D. Minimize the risk of imposing one’s values on others
D. Minimize the risk of imposing one’s values on others
Cultural competence requires responsiveness, not neutrality or sameness.
Social location is best understood as:
A. Fixed and unchanging
B. Irrelevant to healthcare
C. Determined only by income
D. Contextual and shaped by multiple intersecting factors
D. Contextual and shaped by multiple intersecting factors
Social location shifts depending on context and social power structures.
Why are stereotypes and prejudices dangerous in healthcare?
A. They save time
B. They simplify diagnosis
C. They standardize treatment
D. They deny patients’ social realities and contribute to poor outcomes
D. They deny patients’ social realities and contribute to poor outcomes
Oversimplification undermines diagnostic clarity and equitable care.
Understanding privilege allows healthcare practitioners to:
A. Eliminate disparities immediately
B. Ignore social structures
C. Increase authority
D. Challenge how they participate in systems of advantage
D. Challenge how they participate in systems of advantage
Awareness enables intentional action and ethical practice.
The most effective strategy for mitigating bias in healthcare is to:
A. Deny its existence
B. Apply identical treatment
C. Avoid self-reflection
D. Actively engage in ongoing self-assessment and awareness
D. Actively engage in ongoing self-assessment and awareness
Bias cannot be eliminated but can be managed through intentional reflection.