This 2006 Cultural Competency Resource Directory was put together through a grant, funded by the Illinois Department of Public Health Family Practice Residency grant, which was received by the Saint Elizabeth Hospital Family Practice Residency program.  The Illinois Health Education Consortium/AHEC assisted Saint Elizabeth Family Practice Residency program by helping gather this information and making it available through their website.  

      The purpose of this directory is to provide a resource of consolidated information on cultural competency for health care programs and professionals.  This directory includes some national resources on cultural competency that are important to know and refer to, but the main component of the directory focuses on cultural competency resources of Illinois.  By focusing on the resources in Illinois, we will hopefully create a connection and a local network of professionals interested in cultural competency and how it can be applied to the health care field.  We hope this directory will promote discussion and collaboration among residency programs, health professions schools, and health care organizations.  The resources that have been gathered come in a wide range of formats—training seminars, workshops, community programs, residency and health professions curricula, and a list of educators and presenters.  However, the following is only a partial list of some national and Illinois resources on cultural competency.  The listing of these resources is not intended to be an endorsement of the products or individuals and groups that produced them.

      Special thanks are extended to Mithra Zaucha, MPH, who researched, gathered, and compiled these resources for IHEC and to all the individuals and organizations that were contacted regarding this directory.  Their cooperation and assistance helped create this directory and provided a basis for the collaboration of many Illinois programs and organizations.