| This study explores the narratives of acculturation of ten international medical graduates (IMGs) from four different countries of origin who adapted to living and working in Canada. IMGs are a particularly interesting case of acculturation because medicine is a profession that demands a high degree of cultural competence and because it has a proscribed period of orientation in the form of post-graduate training or residency. This study asks the question how IMGs learn the implicit aspects of clinical practice.;The narratives that emerged from the interviews suggest that cultural disequilibrium was diffuse and recursive, that the learning strategies were non-reflective and non-discursive, and that individual identities evolved in a manner that suggests the archetypal hero's journey. The implications of these findings for the training of IMGs are explored and recommendations are made.;The semi-structured interviews of the IMGS were informed by acculturation psychology and transformative learning theory and guided by a model of cross-cultural learning suggested by Taylor (1994). Questions focused on how IMGs responded to cultural disequilibrium, what learning strategies they employed and how their identity changed. The conversations were recorded, transcribed and analyzed using a form of narrative inquiry. |
