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On July 16th 1979, the largest by volume radioactive spill in US history took place in Church Rock (Kinłitsosinil), which is located in the southeastern “checkerboard area” of the Navajo Nation (Diné Bikéyah) and northwestern New Mexico. Due to a breach in the former United Nuclear Corporation’s uranium mill tailings dam, an estimated ninety-four (~94) million gallons of radioactive, toxic, and highly acidic effluent spilled into the Puerco River (Brugge et al. 2002; SRIC 2009).

The Church Rock Uranium Mill Tailings Spill marked the disastrous beginning of the end for the uranium mining industry in the Navajo Nation and New Mexico. Ironically, the spill occurred on the very same day as an event 34 years prior that marked the beginning of the uranium boom and the dawn of the atomic age: the Trinity Test of July 16th 1945, “the day the sun rose twice.” (Szasz 1984) Unlike the world’s first nuclear explosion in southern New Mexico, the Church Rock mill spill remains relatively underreported and has not yet registered at a national scale of collective memory.

The object of the study was to determine what cultural competence means across the relationships of patients, clinicians, and administrators. The study was performed to reveal the 'barriers' in patient care becasue of cultural implications. The lack of a patient-physcian relationship due to cultural barriers whether that be race or ethnicity, lack of explanation of a diagnosis or the differences in appraoches to patient care- as percieved by administration, patients and doctors.

The study is publiched on NCBI in a library of medicine for NIHM. On this database (original publisher could not be found- presumed to be in a medical journal, the author works for Columbia University) contains may important and valid articles that contain vital information for the future of mental and physical health of others. Publications in this database are natural and presumed to be credible because its association with NIHMS.

The study was perfomed by taking three groups of people from a diverse hospital in Brooklyn-patients, administrators and physicsans and asks them the same ballpark set of question about cultural competence. And how it affects a patient-physician relationship. This is not a new way of studying issues, case studies are quite a common way (in group questioning) to determine how "populations" feel about a topic.

This study has travelled via the definition of cultural competence on many academic and medical websites regarding psychological ideologies.

Technical professionals can make use of this study as a basis of how cultral competnce should be viewed in a healthcare workplace. TO determine the needs of the patients, physicians and higher ups use culture and their expertice to determine a proper patient-physician relationship.

The study addresses vulnerable populations by presiding in an area of high culture and diversity. The study participants were from all backround and genders, so teh study would not be biased.

The study was not funded it was on a volunteer basis, where particpiants would be paid for their time and information gathered would be used for the study.

The policy is a program funded by the EPA called C.A.R.E. (Community Action for a Renewed Environment). The aim of this program is to build the public voice in environmental matters, and to give access to different sources of information from the community.