Situating pluralism in biomedical healthcare practices: Lessons from the ethnomedical approach

Abstract

Healthcare interactions have become increasingly varied, prompting the need for revised person-centred approaches that call for curriculum reform. This paper describes the perceived impact of the intentional insertion of medical pluralism into an inclusive, interprofessional health sciences module. A phased multi-method research design was applied. Phase 1 gathered data for an early curricular review. Phase 2 implemented a revised approach focusing on medical plurality. Phase 3 collected qualitative data through structured reflective journaling. Descriptive statistical analysis of quantitative data and thematic analysis of the qualitative data were performed. 41 2022 first-year students (30%) participated in Phase 1, with 83% indicating that engagement was encouraged (83%) within a space of mutual respect (83%). Structured reflective journaling was employed in 2023 with 121 (97%) first-year students participating in Phases 2 and 3 to describe the impact of the revised approach on student learning. Five themes emerged from this experience: uncertainty, fear, overwhelm, gratefulness, and personal impact. Through creating a practically orientated and inclusive curricular space founded on medical pluralism and pedagogy of care, cross-cultural graduate attribute training was transformed to be more contextually relevant and future-focused to effectively steer students towards developing the attributes of desirability, ethics of care, and responsible citizenship.