Cultural beliefs and practices impact heavily on health outcomes of patients. Doctors' ability to deal with such issues in clinical practice, i.e. cultural competence, is widely studied in the west. It has yet to be given due importance in non-western contexts. This study aimed to develop a valid and reliable measure of cultural competence in the Malaysian cultural context and to assess cultural competence among Malaysian medical students. Thirty-five cultural issues faced by Malaysian doctors were identified with a series of interviews to develop a preliminary tool. The responses of students to these cultural issues were evaluated against the extent of inquiry and advocacy based on a theoretical framework of cultural competence. The responses were subjected to statistical analysis to determine the internal structure of the tool and to reduce the number of items in the tool. The final tool (IMU Measure of Cultural Competence - IMoCC) comprised of 22 issues, which deemed to be reliable in the second round of testing. In both tools, student cohorts demonstrated an acceptable level of cultural competence with room for improvement. However, they appeared to learn how to deal with cultural issues primarily through informal means and not in the formal curriculum.