Purpose Many Physician Assistant (PA) programs have recently integrated cultural competency into their curricula. However, there is little evidence tracking the longitudinal effectiveness of curricula on culture competency. This study tested whether amount of exposure to a cultural competency curriculum affected self-assessments of cultural awareness among two cohorts of students.
Method Cohort 1 and Cohort 2 students completed a cultural awareness survey at the beginning of the program and retook the survey at three intervals during the first year.
Results Regression analyses confirmed significant linear relationships (two-tailed α < .05) between responses and interval number on all questions for each cohort, with exception of Question 8 for Cohort 2.
Conclusion Results from Cohort 2 replicated those from Cohort 1 suggesting that cultural awareness among PA students benefits from repeated exposure to lessons on cultural competency. Schools attempting to develop or expand cultural awareness among students should consider integrating cultural competency training throughout the PA curriculum.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Short- and Long-Term Outcomes of Student Field Research Experiences in Special Populations Amr S. Soliman, Robert M. Chamberlain J Canc Educ.2015;[Epub] CrossRef
KHPLEI
, Matthew H. Scheel
Abstract
PDF
