Mohan Dutta: Culture-Centered Approach

I am often asked what I am studying here at Purdue University. Upon hearing Health Communication, I am always asked what might that be. So I tell them that in easy terms, I study the interaction between doctors, patients, hospitals, governments, and other policy-making agencies. I then have to look into the person’s expressions and follow my answer up with an example. “Think of a time you went to a doctor and had a really bad experience with him/her,” I tell them. “And now think of a time when you really liked your doctor.” “What changed? What influenced your experiences? To a big extent, this is what I study.” I use the above explanation not only to share in an easy way what I study but also to remind myself what got me interested in this field. Reading some of this week’s contents reminded me the practicality of such explanations. Teal & Street (2008) shares in a simple yet insightful way about the need to have a cultural competency in a doctor patient relationship, treatment, a...