Job Interview Question

That's a hard one! What do you know about it??

I know what they want to hear, and have had lots of interviews before (and been asked every single time!), just wondering what others say.

They basically want you to say that you will treat the patient holistically (not just the medical problem) and include whanau etc. Cant remember off the top of my head but there's something to do with four walls (spiritual, and 3 others , have it written down somewhere).

I just find it really hard to answer, as I treat all my patients the same in that regard, whatever their culture.

Ohman that question PEEEEEAAAASSSSSS me off (sorry Deb, had to shout that). We have to prove that we do our thing by treaty of waitangi for our competency assessments should we ever get audited (which happens 25% of the bloody time) and I cant hold back my answer which is totally unPC and is simply that each patient gets treated according to their individual need! Buggered if I am going to jump through hoops to impress beaurocracy when I already know I am doing the best by my patients!

I think it means a lot more than just respecting Maori rights....we should respect all rights and cultures and bare this in mind when dealing with them.

Of course any morons.....well thats a whole other story and there are plenty of those around....thank god I dont work in central wellington

I usually talk about respecting the 3 P's of the treaty (partnership, participation and protection) and seeking help from Kaumatua around cultural knowledge.

It's not strictly health related but I answer it with talking about cross-cultural communication: because of the history and the different translations and people screwing people over etc.

And in my field, we talk about a partnership. Respecting that we are all in this together and working together for the earthybusinessyhippystuff.

I've only ever been asked about the treaty of waitangi, not other cultures in general. Though I do believe it should be applied to all.

I got asked specifically (though not exactly) "how does the Treaty of Waitangi relate to international development?" - I don't consider that saying "how does the Treaty of Waitangi relate to Maori in international development?"

I'm gonna sit out on a limb here and say that I answer it by saying that I think it's the founding document of NZ as we know it today.  That said, obviously everyone deserves to be treated within the same realms of respect, regardless of their ethnicity.  But to me, Maoridom is different because it's unique to NZ, it's our heritage, and I'd be happy to see Maori being taught alongside English in schools as par for the course.  A lot of PC rubbish is attributed to the Treaty too, but if you look into it it's usually a reflection on whatever organisation it is creating the rubbish, rather than a reflection on the Treaty.  And I don't consider the Treaty some document so sacred it should never be critically analysed either, but not re-interpreted to the degree that it's warped out of recognition. 

sounds like others have already answered it, but yep, the 3 p's.... which factor into everything you do really if you think about it, ie, encouraging participation ont he patients part in their care, patnership in working together with the family/patient, and Multi disciplinary team to plan and implement care, protection in terms of being an advocate ofr the patient and ensuring they know all the info to make decisions, etc   stuff you already do unconsciously without thinking.

Edited by mum2paris

kebakat wrote: Grrrrr questions like that really annoy me, I don't get why Maori culture should be singled out in that way. I got asked a question for a job once (though not in the health sector) and I just said that I treat everyone the same, whether they are male, female, short, tall, black, white, orange, purple or whatever lol

But see, I don't think this is totally appropriate. Ok, take a resonable simple example like eye-contact. If I go to meetings with Maori or Asian families, and make a lot of direct eye contact, I'm going to come across as possibly rude. But then again, if I work wih a Pakeha family and look away constantly, then I might look shifty and untrustworthy. Basically it's about treating people equally, which isn't treating them the same. Its about learning about different cultures and making people feel the same way, comfortable.