Thoughts on Cultural Competence
No matter where you work as an OT, you are going to encounter someone from a different culture, or that has different beliefs than you. While it would be nice to say that every OT should understand the exact differences in every culture that they will encounter, it’s just not possible. So as students, I think that gaining experience in the field will help us learn ways to understand people different than us and how to treat them according to their beliefs, even if they aren’t ours or if we don’t understand them. Although I am not proud to admit it, I stereotype people, for example, expecting that people from the north act different and maybe even ‘rude’ as opposed to those from the south with ‘southern hospitality’, even though I know many people from the north that are very nice, and lots of people from the south that aren’t. In order to further develop cultural competency and to be a better student/OT, I think it is important to self-reflect and realize any bi...
Emily, this was such an insightful conclusion of your fieldwork rotation. I honestly did not know exactly what this facility did for clients and fully understand the specialty within this setting. It was nice to hear about your positives and how you are willing to take this knowledge you gained from this experience into other settings you may be in for future practice as an OT. I agree that you will definitely improve your documentation skills with practice. It is all about learning to be confident in what you know already. Thank you so much for sharing and I hope you enjoy your summer break!
ReplyDeleteHi, Emily! I really enjoyed listening about your experience because my knowledge of a setting such as the one you were in is very limited. It sounds like you learned a lot, and had a very meaningful experience. I like how you mentioned that having experienced this type of OT work will help you tremendously in the future. Even if you do not work in a facility such as this one, you will more than likely come across a client at some point in your career that will benefit from the services of a seating and positioning clinic. When that time comes, you will be able to refer back to your experience and potentially refer your client to this type of facility. And I definitely agree with you, documentation is a learned skill that we will become more confident with over time. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, and hope you have a wonderful summer break!
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