Confusion about Race/Ethnicity Classification and Medical School

[Taqwa]

I was wondering if there were any East African Bengalis or Gujuratis here? I always wondered what we would classify ourselves on the AMCAS. My family has been established in the African continent for several generations since the British brought my ancestors to Uganda as indentured servants (basically slaves), and they were expelled by Idi Amin in 1972 as a result of the Indophobia policies. Much of my family hasn't even returned to live in Bangladesh since the 1800s. In fact, most of my relatives knew Luganda as their first language moreso than Bengali.

I think it is a bit unfair to classify myself as Asian or Indian when groups like mine ARE disadvantaged and came to the USA as refugees, and have very little in common than those classically known as Asian. We have more in common with Latino illegal immigrants than a immigrant that came to the USA from China, Korea, Vietnam, India, or the Phillippines, etc

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[LizzyM]

How did you self-identify on the 2010 US census with respect to race and ethnicity? That should be your first clue.

My own physician was born in Africa but self-identifies as Indian.

 

[Taqwa]

How did you self-identify on the 2010 US census with respect to race and ethnicity? That should be your first clue.

My own physician was born in Africa but self-identifies as Indian.

Wow, LizzyM responded to my post! An honor, truly lol.

Well I have always put other, cause my ancestors have been in Uganda ever since the 1800s, so in American society it would make little sense to say I am East African, even though it would make sense in England because the people there are a bit more familiar with the long history. They were indentured servants from the area known as Bangladesh now.

 

[LizzyM]

Wow, LizzyM responded to my post! An honor, truly lol.

Well I have always put other, cause my ancestors have been in Uganda ever since the 1800s, so in American society it would make little sense to say I am East African, even though it would make sense in England because the people there are a bit more familiar with the long history. They were indentured servants from the area known as Bangladesh now.

So put "other" on your amcas application or leave it blank.

 

[Taqwa]

So put "other" on your amcas application or leave it blank.

Thank you, LizzyM

 

[Lexdiamondz]

Dude, you're of South Asian descent, period. If you think your history makes you disadvantaged then you may feel free to explain that in your disadvantaged statement, however to pick ''other'' when you're fully aware that you're of Indian ancestry is kinda a lie of omission.

If my ancestors havent been in Africa since the 18th century and I'm still considered of African origin, then the fact that your family came to Africa in the 20th century doesn't obscure the fact that you're of Indian ancestry. White Africans, Arab Egyptians and Portuguese Mozambicans don't go around claiming to be other, so why should you? Besides, if you LOOK Indian and have an Indian last name, they're gonna know when you interview anyway and its just gonna look like you're trying to game the system by avoiding being classified as Asian.

 

[Taqwa]

...I actually am half Bengali...Bangladesh and India are at two completely different levels economically, and are represented very differently in medicine. Not the same.

....no one said anyone was "gaming" the system. Just trying to navigate an out-of-date census system. Which we ALL know is out dated...And yes my background can make me more sensitive to the needs of underserved communities as well, whether you like it or not.
.....

 

[ig0tfish]

...I actually am half Bengali...Bangladesh and India are at two completely different levels economically, and are represented very differently in medicine. Not the same.

....no one said anyone was "gaming" the system. Just trying to navigate an out-of-date census system. Which we ALL know is out dated...And yes my background can make me more sensitive to the needs of underserved communities as well, whether you like it or not.
.....

Last I checked Bangladesh was still in Asia. Would you expect a North Korean defector to put down anything other than "Asian"?

 

[Taqwa]

Last I checked Bangladesh was still in Asia.

But isn't that a very broad and sometimes outdated category?

 

[sector9]

But isn't that a very broad and sometimes outdated category?

Have you looked at the actual options on AMCAS? Or are you just guessing about what's there?

 

[Taqwa]

Have you looked at the actual options on AMCAS? Or are you just guessing about what's there?

I haven't, but since LizzyM is an authority on School Admissions, I will follow her advice and list Other, and explain the rest in my personal statement because my situation and background is very different and odd.

 

[ig0tfish]

But isn't that a very broad and sometimes outdated category?

It is, but it doesn't change your ethnicity/race. You can describe your situation to adcoms but you shouldn't deny the fact that you are ethnically Asian.

 

[LizzyM]

Whatever you do, don't claim to be African-American. If you appear to be Asian and list yourself as African, someone behind closed doors at an adcom meeting will rip into your application.

 

[sector9]

I haven't, but since LizzyM is an authority on School Admissions, I will follow her advice and list Other, and explain the rest in my personal statement because my situation and background is very different and odd.

Yes, "Other Asian".

This was a couple years ago and I've heard it has been updated since then, but you can get the general idea. It sounds like you are under the impression that you have about 3 options to pick from total but that's not true.

 

[Taqwa]

Whatever you do, don't claim to be African-American. If you appear to be Asian and list yourself as African, someone behind closed doors at an adcom meeting will rip into your application.

Oh yeah of course not, absolutely. I am just not completely identifying with Asian either, which is the main problem I am having.

 

[Taqwa]

Yes, "Other Asian".

This was a couple years ago and I've heard it has been updated since then, but you can get the general idea. It sounds like you are under the impression that you have about 3 options to pick from total but that's not true.

Yeah Other Asian is the next more realistic thing if there is no absolute "Other" option.Yeah totally thought it was going to be like the last census I took, which had those broad categories. Which was especially tricky here in California where people traditionally view Asians as being Chinese, Vietnamese, Koreans, Filipinos, and other races from East Asia.

 

[cinamin]

Yeah Other Asian is the next more realistic thing if there is no absolute "Other" option.Yeah totally thought it was going to be like the last census I took, which had those broad categories. Which was especially tricky here in California where people traditionally view Asians as being Chinese, Vietnamese, Koreans, Filipinos, and other races from East Asia.

There is no general "Other" option. However, you can leave this entire thing blank. I dunno about doing that though. My friend is white and did that, and the reasons to me are kind of muddy - like why omit that but then again she had her own reasons (I guess she didn't want to be excluded because of her race? But then I wonder if she showed up, people were expecting her to be something else?). I would put Other Asian. Or you can leave it blank.

 

[La Presse]

Reading this thread made me doubt my ethnicity a bit.

 

[Didierdrogba]

just say you are East African, and just explain why you self-identify as such during interviews.
Easy

 

[Taqwa]

Reading this thread made me doubt my ethnicity a bit.

Lol if you are confused or doubtful, wait til you are a Middle Eastern refugee where they would have you check off "white" on the census if you were Arab. I hope things have changed since then

 

[La Presse]

Lol if you are confused or doubtful, wait til you are a Middle Eastern refugee where they would have you check off "white" on the census if you were Arab. I hope things have changed since then

I may just make a thread like you did.

 

[Taqwa]

just say you are East African, and just explain why you self-identify as such during interviews.
Easy

Yeah, or something like East-African-Bengali? lol

 

[Lexdiamondz]

...I actually am half Bengali...Bangladesh and India are at two completely different levels economically, and are represented very differently in medicine. Not the same.

....no one said anyone was "gaming" the system. Just trying to navigate an out-of-date census system. Which we ALL know is out dated...And yes my background can make me more sensitive to the needs of underserved communities as well, whether you like it or not.
.....

The census is out of date in regards to EVERYONE for the most part...hell, they put Negro as an option. Most people don't fit exactly into the bubble but some things are blatantly obvious.

And I never said your background wouldn't make you more sensitive to the needs of the underserved...that has nothing to do with anything.

It is, but it doesn't change your ethnicity/race. You can describe your situation to adcoms but you shouldn't deny the fact that you are ethnically Asian.

Exactly. Like I said before, my people spent the last 250 years out of Africa and yet I'm still Black, so I don't see what the confusion is about being South Asian. If the reason your family was expelled from East Africa was because they were Indian/Bengali/South Asian, it's pretty damn obvious that you're Indian/Bengali/South Asian. I don't really understand where the ambiguity is.

Yeah, or something like East-African-Bengali? lol

Saying that would imply to some people that you're half-Black....and if you don't look it then that may cause some problems for you.

If you LOOK South Asian (because they make you send in a picture with your secondaries) and have a South Asian sounding name and go around claiming you're some "other", people are gonna look at you funny and probably suspiciously.

 

[VortexSwirl]

.

 

[Didierdrogba]

Yeah, or something like East-African-Bengali? lol

Having something else to talk about during interviews, such as talking about why you self-identify as African, rather than the same old story of why you have always wanted to be a doctor, is going to leave adcoms a stronger impression of you and your circumstances, and make you stand out from other pre-meds. I believe this will improve your chances of getting in.

 

[Osteoth]

Whatever you do, don't claim to be African-American. If you appear to be Asian and list yourself as African, someone behind closed doors at an adcom meeting will rip into your application.

So what if you're half black, half indian but have an indian name? Is there some sort of way you can qualify yourself so it doesn't seem like you're trying to game the system?

 

[plumazul]

Reading this thread made me doubt my ethnicity a bit.

ikr, I have an Hispanic surname but I'm culturally Tejana and as is often the case with Tejanos, Yo no hablo Mexicano.

I suppose I'll just check "Chicana" 😎

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1D-nom-NPQ

 

[MVP]

You are ethnically Asian. Man up and mark it. Better to take on life with your head up than sell yourself out for an application.

Schools have a stated goal of achieving racial diversity, not socioeconomic diversity. Appalachian whites and Chinatown Chinese are severely disadvantaged too, but that's just how it works. Life is unfair; all we can do it is go about it honorably.

 

[dwills]

Check African and Asian. Problem solved. You will still probably get the URM advantage and no one will question it. Don't feel bad about it, either.

Edit: if you can even check 2. I'm not sure if you can, I don't remember.

 

[LizzyM]

Check African and Asian. Problem solved. You will still probably get the URM advantage and no one will question it. Don't feel bad about it, either.

Edit: if you can even check 2. I'm not sure if you can, I don't remember.

But that's the point! People will question it and in many cases, it will result in no interview invite. In other cases, you'll be interviewed, eye-balled, and tossed out.

You can list 2 ethnicities if you are truly of two heritages (e.g. mother Mexican and father Swedish) but if the shoe were on the other foot and you were many generations in England but originally from Bengal, would you try to claim to be racially white?

 

[LizzyM]

ikr, I have an Hispanic surname but I'm culturally Tejana and as is often the case with Tejanos, Yo no hablo Mexicano.

I suppose I'll just check "Chicana" 😎

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1D-nom-NPQ

"In the 2007 American Community Survey (ACS) data, Tejanos consist mostly of Mexican Americans whose ancestors arrived in Texas prior to and during the Mexican Revolution.[10] Colonial Tejanos are those Tejano Texians who are descended from the colonists who pioneered Texas through the Spanish Colonial Period before 1820." (Wikipedia)

You could say Hispanic, Chicano/chicana with no difficulty and no question.

 

[dwills]

But that's the point! People will question it and in many cases, it will result in no interview invite. In other cases, you'll be interviewed, eye-balled, and tossed out.

You can list 2 ethnicities if you are truly of two heritages (e.g. mother Mexican and father Swedish) but if the shoe were on the other foot and you were many generations in England but originally from Bengali, would you try to claim to be racially white?

Will people really question it if he is dark skinned?

I checked two boxes. One Asian and one URM. No one would guess I was half URM. I look pretty much all asian. I had a >50 percent acceptance post interview. If anyone DOES question it, the increase in interview invites will probably compensate for it, IMO.

 

[LizzyM]

Will people really question it if he is dark skinned?

I checked two boxes. One Asian and one URM. No one would guess I was half URM. I look pretty much all asian. I had a >50 percent acceptance post interview. If anyone DOES question it, the increase in interview invites will probably compensate for it, IMO.

If your LizzyM is at or above the school's LizzyM, you can claim to be Geronimo's grandbaby and no one will blink and eye. If you are a below average applicant, you might not have the same success... or you may be asked about your experiences with your ethnic community, etc. and the results may be based on how you answer.

 

[galaxyx]

If you really are truly disadvantaged due to your background, this should be evident in your childhood income and disadvantaged essay.

If you truly want to help some specific underrepresented marginalized group, write about it in your personal statement.

If you think you're background will add diversity to the class, write about it in the diversity essay that's found on a lot of secondaries.

Neither of those has anything to do with checking Asian or African. But consider this, your family was brought to Africa as indentured servants so you want to identify as African, but the descendants of Africans who were brought to this country as slaves, don't identify as Caucasian but I'm sure they identify as American. Basically, your nationality does not define your race. By your logic, you couldn't identify as African either, because you've never lived there, if the premise is your family isn't Asian because they've never lived there.

 

[Lexdiamondz]

If you really are truly disadvantaged due to your background, this should be evident in your childhood income and disadvantaged essay.

If you truly want to help some specific underrepresented marginalized group, write about it in your personal statement.

If you think you're background will add diversity to the class, write about it in the diversity essay that's found on a lot of secondaries.

Neither of those has anything to do with checking Asian or African. But consider this, your family was brought to Africa as indentured servants so you want to identify as African, but the descendants of Africans who were brought to this country as slaves, don't identify as Caucasian but I'm sure they identify as American. Basically, your nationality does not define your race. By your logic, you couldn't identify as African either, because you've never lived there, if the premise is your family isn't Asian because they've never lived there.

But that's the point! People will question it and in many cases, it will result in no interview invite. In other cases, you'll be interviewed, eye-balled, and tossed out.

You can list 2 ethnicities if you are truly of two heritages (e.g. mother Mexican and father Swedish) but if the shoe were on the other foot and you were many generations in England but originally from Bengal, would you try to claim to be racially white?

Bingo. Not only that but his family and other Indian-descent people were thrown out of the country precisely because they weren't seen as true Africans by the indigenous people. I don't see where the confusion is here. He's of South Asian origin, period.

Check African and Asian. Problem solved. You will still probably get the URM advantage and no one will question it. Don't feel bad about it, either.

Edit: if you can even check 2. I'm not sure if you can, I don't remember.

wow. just wow. your ethics are absolutely apalling.

so following your logic, an androgynous White man should be able to check Female and take advantage of initiatives to boost female recuritment without feeling bad about it.

 

[DoctorLacrosse]

If your LizzyM is at or above the school's LizzyM, you can claim to be Geronimo's grandbaby and no one will blink and eye. If you are a below average applicant, you might not have the same success... or you may be asked about your experiences with your ethnic community, etc. and the results may be based on how you answer.

Speaking from a completely neutral point of view, does this seem fair really? Just because you're black or Hispanic, you should have some extensive experiences helping your ethnic community? do white applicants need to show how many white people they've helped? I think showing you've helped ANY kind of community should be more than enough, for any applicant. I'm just naive about the real world I guess though 😛

 

[plumazul]

"In the 2007 American Community Survey (ACS) data, Tejanos consist mostly of Mexican Americans whose ancestors arrived in Texas prior to and during the Mexican Revolution.[10] Colonial Tejanos are those Tejano Texians who are descended from the colonists who pioneered Texas through the Spanish Colonial Period before 1820." (Wikipedia)

You could say Hispanic, Chicano/chicana with no difficulty and no question.

That definition fits me perfectly. One of my great-grandfathers was actually a refugee of the revolution. I am also part German as many Tejanos are. Thanks for the input, LizzyM.

 

[dwills]

Bingo. Not only that but his family and other Indian-descent people were thrown out of the country precisely because they weren't seen as true Africans by the indigenous people. I don't see where the confusion is here. He's of South Asian origin, period.



wow. just wow. your ethics are absolutely apalling.

so following your logic, an androgynous White man should be able to check Female and take advantage of initiatives to boost female recuritment without feeling bad about it.

Given the way he described his family background, and that the question is asking you how you self identify, it is absolutely not unreasonable that he self identifies as Black and Asian. I probably would if my family spoke the native African language and had been there for several generations.

If that androgynous person feels like a woman, and the question asks how you self identify, then I don't see why not.

My ethics are not appaling, far from it actually.

 

[VortexSwirl]

There is some ironic reverse racism going on here. A racist tyrant like Idi Amin does not define who you are.

Not only that, what defines what an African looks like. There are plenty of blue eyed, white or Indian looking ones coming from the African continent that are more closer in experience to being disadvantaged and in dire poverty than many African Americans here.

What even defines what someone of a certain race looks like? There is plenty of women that use hair extensions that come from subcontinent women that donate them to temples in India, and only to never realize that their hair would be used as tracks, weaves, extensions etc. of many here in the US. Watch Good Hair.

Experiences are what define what you will do for the most part. There are many, many many African Americans, minorities, etc. that end up not practicing in underserved communities. Ironically, in this city I live in that has one of the highest crimes in the nation, most of the positions are filled by White doctors, while over in the wealthy suburbs, a lot are filled by AA or Latino physicians. No offense, not saying this applies to everyone, but race can never determine whether or not you decide to serve as a physician where it is needed.

 

[LizzyM]

There is some ironic reverse racism going on here. A racist tyrant like Idi Amin does not define who you are.

Not only that, what defines what an African looks like. There are plenty of blue eyed, white or Indian looking ones coming from the African continent that are more closer in experience to being disadvantaged and in dire poverty than many African Americans here.



.

Black or African American as defined by the US Census is: "A person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa."

 

[LizzyM]

Speaking from a completely neutral point of view, does this seem fair really? Just because you're black or Hispanic, you should have some extensive experiences helping your ethnic community? do white applicants need to show how many white people they've helped? I think showing you've helped ANY kind of community should be more than enough, for any applicant. I'm just naive about the real world I guess though 😛

Here's what's happening here. Applicant with below average numbers for that school applies and self-identifies as URM. The applicant's name, hometown, etc don't seem to be in keeping with that self-identification, then the question may be raised, "what life experiences do you bring to the table as an under-represented minority?" Those experiences aren't just "helping" but might also include involvement with one's faith community, weekend language/culture classes or summer camps, cooking lessons with the older members of the family, anything that says, "Yes, I can represent the viewpoint of my ethnic/racial group to my classmates."

This is how some "white bread" applicants who claim a great-great grandmother who was ___, get called out as "not really" URM.

 

[La Presse]

Here's what's happening here. Applicant with below average numbers for that school applies and self-identifies as URM. The applicant's name, hometown, etc don't seem to be in keeping with that self-identification, then the question may be raised, "what life experiences do you bring to the table as an under-represented minority?" Those experiences aren't just "helping" but might also include involvement with one's faith community, weekend language/culture classes or summer camps, cooking lessons with the older members of the family, anything that says, "Yes, I can represent the viewpoint of my ethnic/racial group to my classmates."

This is how some "white bread" applicants who claim a great-great grandmother who was ___, get called out as "not really" URM.

Thank you, LizzyM. This was insightful. 😍

 

[Planes2Doc]

Speaking from a completely neutral point of view, does this seem fair really? Just because you're black or Hispanic, you should have some extensive experiences helping your ethnic community? do white applicants need to show how many white people they've helped? I think showing you've helped ANY kind of community should be more than enough, for any applicant. I'm just naive about the real world I guess though 😛

This is a very puzzling topic for me. Technically, URM students are wanted because they are more likely to serve in the historically underserved URM groups.

Here's what's baffling though. Technically, one would go to SDN or their pre-med advisor because they are working to better their chances for medical school admissions. Now who wouldn't? Why is there such a backlash, when someone who is maybe half-white/half-URM who grew up with mostly white culture wants to check off the URM checkbox because it will give them an advantage? Isn't the whole point to get into medical school? Why isn't there any outrage when people pick up a laundry-list of ECs that portray them as something they are not. I don't get why someone who has the potential to legitimately check the URM box gets so much anger.

I used to work with a few REAL African-Americans at my last job. What I mean by real is that they were born in Africa, and immigrated to the United States. One of them, originally from Ghana, was previously pre-med before he dropped it because his wife had a baby. I talked to him about the URM topic, and despite his animosity with the American African-American community, he still did some ECs in that area so he can use the URM card to his full advantage. Culturally, he associates with other Ghanians. His other friends are mostly Caucasian. Last time I checked, Ghanians weren't considered to be a URM minority with lacking care.

Now why is this important? If you know any African immigrants well, you will notice that there is a HUGE cultural divide between them and the "American" African Americans. There is quite a bit of animosity between the groups. In fact, I think that based on what I know from the African immigrants I met, I feel that they would be less likely to serve in the African American community that AMCAS describes than a non-URM physician. I hope this didn't come off as racist, but this seems to the case among the African immigrants I've met.

It's kind of ironic how the "real" African Americans are unlikely to serve the communities that schools would hope for them to serve, yet can legitimately check the URM box with no second thoughts.

 

[LizzyM]

Serving a specific community in the future is not the only reason why schools want to have diversity within the student body.

 

[VortexSwirl]

Serving a specific community in the future is not the only reason why schools want to have diversity within the student body.

The next reason I thinking about would be to gain some sort of government funding.

But if that was the case, it seems like there would need to be more updates regarding that as well to ensure the sincerity of the applicants and schools themselves. We have so many research based institutions that actively recruit on increasing their URM numbers in order to gain government funding for their status-seeking research work, yet our health outcomes as a nation are terrible and among the worst among developed countries. We have the best technologies and hospitals, yet some of the worst outcomes-which are quite embarassing to say the least and shows where our priorities are.

This clearly shows a major piece of evidence as to why this current criteria isn't working, as well as even questioning the sincerity of many medical school institutions, AAMC, physician lobbyists, etc. But that is a whole other topic I guess. ::

 

[Planes2Doc]

The next reason I thinking about would be to gain some sort of government funding.

But if that was the case, it seems like there would need to be more updates regarding that as well to ensure the sincerity of the applicants and schools themselves. We have so many research based institutions that actively recruit on increasing their URM numbers in order to gain government funding for their status-seeking research work, yet our health outcomes as a nation are terrible and among the worst among developed countries. We have the best technologies and hospitals, yet some of the worst outcomes-which are quite embarassing to say the least and shows where our priorities are.

This clearly shows a major piece of evidence as to why this current criteria isn't working, as well as even questioning the sincerity of many medical school institutions, AAMC, physician lobbyists, etc. But that is a whole other topic I guess. ::

Correct. The whole system is broken. It's going to take quite a lot to fix it. 👍

 

[galaxyx]

The next reason I thinking about would be to gain some sort of government funding.

But if that was the case, it seems like there would need to be more updates regarding that as well to ensure the sincerity of the applicants and schools themselves. We have so many research based institutions that actively recruit on increasing their URM numbers in order to gain government funding for their status-seeking research work, yet our health outcomes as a nation are terrible and among the worst among developed countries. We have the best technologies and hospitals, yet some of the worst outcomes-which are quite embarassing to say the least and shows where our priorities are.

This clearly shows a major piece of evidence as to why this current criteria isn't working, as well as even questioning the sincerity of many medical school institutions, AAMC, physician lobbyists, etc. But that is a whole other topic I guess. ::

You're kidding right? It's ridiculous to blame the very small few of URM that go to medical school for current state of healthcare in the country. It'd be like having a kid that won't eat a bowl full of brussel sprouts, throwing in a few pieces of candy, and then blaming the candy because the kid still won't eat the brussel sprouts.

 

[DoctorLacrosse]

Here's what's happening here. Applicant with below average numbers for that school applies and self-identifies as URM. The applicant's name, hometown, etc don't seem to be in keeping with that self-identification, then the question may be raised, "what life experiences do you bring to the table as an under-represented minority?" Those experiences aren't just "helping" but might also include involvement with one's faith community, weekend language/culture classes or summer camps, cooking lessons with the older members of the family, anything that says, "Yes, I can represent the viewpoint of my ethnic/racial group to my classmates."

This is how some "white bread" applicants who claim a great-great grandmother who was ___, get called out as "not really" URM.

Yeah, I can obviously see what an adcom would want to accomplish by asking these questions, but as someone who's a legitimate urm without any kind of significant "I served my community" experience, I feel like I need to get some just to be safe. This all goes back to the whole box checking thing which I hate to have to do, but it is what it is.

I can see schools also just wanting to diversify a class so every student can see and learn about different cultures from each other, not just so those ethnic groups go back to serve their own. In the end it does make sense for schools to really "double check" people who mark URM in any way they ethically and legally can.

 

[Nicekid23]

I'm actually East African ( Ethiopian-American), and honestly man, it would be a bad look for you to put something you are not, you are completely different from us East African, East Africans are Africans, we are black

 

[LizzyM]

Yeah, I can obviously see what an adcom would want to accomplish by asking these questions, but as someone who's a legitimate urm without any kind of significant "I served my community" experience, I feel like I need to get some just to be safe. This all goes back to the whole box checking thing which I hate to have to do, but it is what it is.

I can see schools also just wanting to diversify a class so every student can see and learn about different cultures from each other, not just so those ethnic groups go back to serve their own. In the end it does make sense for schools to really "double check" people who mark URM in any way they ethically and legally can.

It isn't just about serving your community... it is having lived in and understood its culture. What are its traditions and taboos around birth, death, terminal prognosis? What holidays are celebrated and how? What foods are important or have special significance? For your own culture, this is just part of who you are and how you were raised.