45:9-7.2 Findings, declarations relative to medical education in providing culturally competent health care.

1. The Legislature finds and declares that:

a. The findings of a recently reported, federally-funded study by Georgetown University, in conjunction with the Rand Corporation and the University of Pennsylvania, which were published in the New England Journal of Medicine, indicate that physicians are far less likely to refer blacks and women than white men with identical complaints of chest pain to heart specialists for cardiac catheterization; and the authors of this study suggest that the difference in referral rates stems from racial and sexual biases;

b. These findings are the latest in a growing body of medical literature which documents race and gender-based disparities in the provision of health care, especially in the treatment of cardiovascular disease; however, according to the Surgeon General of the United States, the Georgetown University study represents the best attempt to date to document the racial attitudes of physicians as a factor in the poorer health of African Americans;

c. It is estimated that the minority population in the United States will increase by 60% between now and the year 2010;

d. Cultural awareness and cultural competence are essential skills for providing quality health care to a diverse patient population;

e. Only a small percentage of medical schools nationwide currently provide some formal training in cultural competence;

f. The Association of American Medical Colleges is working to help medical schools improve the teaching of cultural competency; and

g. The public interest in providing quality health care to all segments of society dictates the need for a formal requirement that medical professionals be trained in the provision of culturally competent health care as a condition of licensure to practice medicine in New Jersey.

L.2005,c.53,s.1.