Patiëntgericht én cultureel competent

Good care for all patients, including immigrants, means patient-centred personal care by a physician with the specific knowledge and skills necessary for this individual patient and his specific context. This requires cultural competences, i.e. the knowledge and skills to handle ethnic, social and cultural health differences. These competences should be addressed more in medical education and postgraduate training and in policies regarding quality of care.

Conflict of interest and financial support: a disclosure form provided by one of the authors is available along with the full text of this article at www.ntvg.nl, search for A5612; click on ‘Belangenverstrengeling’ (‘Conflict of interest’).