California Pharmacists Required to Undergo ‘Cultural Competency and Humility’ Training

The California State Board of Pharmacy is requiring pharmacists to undergo “cultural competency and humility” training in order to renew their licenses.

The training, exposed in an X thread, claims that “privileged” groups include “Christians,” “white people,” “Heterosexual persons,” “cis-gendered persons,” and “United States citizens.”

“Privileged” persons stem from a “dominant group,” or a “societal group that has access to economic, social, political, and civic resources which come to be viewed as privileges over time. This societal group, through its collective activity, turns that privilege over time into societal power.”

One of the training slides discusses “Colonialism and Colonization.”

An effect of “colonialism and colonization” is the “erasure of gender and sexual identities,” according to the slide.

Another slide shows “Systems of Oppression,” including “heterosexism,” “sexism,” “cis-sexism,” “Eurocentrism/Western centrism,” and others.

“Oppression” is linked to “health disparities,” according to the next slide. Oppression creates “structural inequity” that affects a “structural dimension” or “social identity,” leading to health care disparities, the slide explains.

The assembly bill calling for the training was signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) in 2022.

According to the bill, “the board shall not renew a pharmacist license unless the applicant submits proof satisfactory to the board that the applicant has successfully completed 30 hours of approved courses of continuing pharmacy education, including at least one hour of participation in a cultural competency course, during the two years preceding the application for renewal.”