Required curricula in diversity and cross-cultural medicine: the time is now.

Culture affects the health of patients in many ways. The increasing diversity of the US population and of medical students, residents, and faculty underscores the need for training in diversity and crosscultural medicine. Curricula addressing culturally diverse populations are well defined in nursing and psychiatry, but have only recently been introduced in medical school and residency programs. This discussion reviews the justification for introducing specific, required curricula in diversity and crosscultural medicine for all residency programs. Principles underlying diversity curricula, effective teaching approaches, and challenges to consider when implementing such curricula are discussed. Teaching and evaluation strategies from the published literature are highlighted. Based on the literature review, examples of ways to integrate diversity and crosscultural curricula into academic-based residency programs are described.