Primer on Cultural Competency for Vascular Surgeons

Patients of minority origins present disease processes in different ways. For example, a Chinese male complaining of abdominal or back pain is very unusual because they very rarely complain about pain. This is most likely a sign of very significant disease or injury. Another example is a 50-year-old African American male complaining of toe pain. That can be very problematic because African American men often present late in the disease process, especially with diabetes and hypertension.