Home

Advertisement

Cultural Competency

« previous entry | next entry »
Nov. 29th, 2007 | 10:51 pm
location: Dorms
mood: sleep is for the weak sleep is for the weak
music: Niyaz - Dilruba

Why this is part of our curriculum still puzzles me. Yes we should be aware of other cultures; but that's also saying we should sterotype people to some extent as well. Why do I bring this up now? Mostly because the professor teaching us how to be culturally competent is in fact the least culturally competent person I've met.

A side note, she is in fact, not smarter than a fifth grader either.

Speaking to the class on monday before Thankgiving Day break, she so proudly stated

"Some people think we have Thanksgiving to celebrate the arrival of Christopher Columbus to Plymouth Rock. His journey on the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria" ...."Oh yeah, thats right.....are you smarter than a fifth grader?" (in that "damn right I know my shit" tone)

Hmm....nope....sorry... you in fact are not smarter than a fifth grader at this point.
Columbus.... first stop....West Indies. Plymouth Rock ...the Mayflower...pilgrims. Lets get things right.

Today in a different class, once again to speak about cultural competency (god only knows why at this point)

"Stereotyping (or racial profiling) didn't exist until after 9/11" (I don't know the exact words but this is pretty close)

Are you shitting me? All those racial profiling concerns that various ethnic groups had before 9/11 apparently didn't exist. No stereotypes existed, nor did racial profiling. I guess what I experienced, observed in the news, and had read about was all a figment of my imagination. Well atleast up till 9/11, after that it really did exist. What on earth was she thinking?

Someone please explain to me how this is justified as part of my 55k/year tuition.

Link | Leave a comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend

Comments {16}

(no subject)

from: anonymous
date: Nov. 30th, 2007 10:46 am (UTC)
Link

How is this justified with your tuition? Easy! Because that particular professor probably has the magical thing known as 'tenure'. Oh, tenure--where else in the world can someone hang onto their job in spite of the fact that they blow chunks at the main portion of it (i.e. teaching)? Some professors get tenure not because they can do research and certainly not because they can teach but because they can do a really good job of whats important--raising money. And really, lets be honest, publishable research & raising money are often times more important to universities than teaching students. So, students get stuck with idoits who think that Thanksgiving is all about Christopher Columbus and colleges get big, fat checks from alumni, government grants, and corporate sponsors.

Reply | Thread

(no subject)

from: [info]theangryintern
date: Nov. 30th, 2007 05:48 pm (UTC)
Link

I'm 99% sure she doesn't have tenure. Mostly because she doesn't look nearly old enough to have been a professor for that long.

Reply | Parent | Thread

(no subject)

from: anonymous
date: Dec. 3rd, 2007 08:15 am (UTC)
Link

She totally has tenure. She's an Ass. Dean

Reply | Parent | Thread

Blorp

(no subject)

from: [info]scsi
date: Nov. 30th, 2007 04:42 pm (UTC)
Link

YOU GOT A WHITE COAT CEREMONY!

I did not. I also did not have such a bullshit class. Next the'll be telling you how black people only prefer soma with the DAN on them, and how they are drawn to the Watson brand vicodin like flies on shit.

Reply | Thread

(no subject)

from: [info]theangryintern
date: Nov. 30th, 2007 05:51 pm (UTC)
Link

White coat ceremony? Trust me you're better off without it. We didn't get the black people wanting soma pills with DAN on them rant, but we did have a prof. tell us about how he knows the imprints on a lot of controlled meds.

Reply | Parent | Thread

Don't go!

from: anonymous
date: Nov. 30th, 2007 09:51 pm (UTC)
Link

When I see that said professor is lecturing that day, I stay home. No point going to a class where we "chat" for 2 hours. She's very nice as a person, but a shitty professor.

Reply | Thread

Re: Don't go!

from: [info]theangryintern
date: Nov. 30th, 2007 10:04 pm (UTC)
Link

I agree. She fights for things we need as students, but in the classroom as an educator, not the greatest.

Reply | Parent | Thread

it goes both ways

from: anonymous
date: Dec. 1st, 2007 01:02 am (UTC)
Link

Cultural competency should also be a course taught to those from other countries who come to the United States to practice medicine. I am discovering that many of these, for whom English is a second language and North American thoughts and emotions a second culture, are indifferent to our fears, and act toward us more as clinical automatons than as the sentient practitioners they ought to be. I'll be damned if I'd drop a mill on a course designed to convince US to welcome THEM to the Fruited Plain. If we are going to have to cross cultural divides, so should they. I am addressing this in particular to Asians, and specifically to Southwest Asians.

Reply | Thread

I concur

from: anonymous
date: Dec. 1st, 2007 02:51 am (UTC)
Link

Hey there. I'm a second year Pharm.D. student.

This reminds me of our professor that taught us our "Communications" course. Here is an excerpt from one of his final lectures last semester.

"You should be extra careful when obtaining a patient profile. Not everything will be as you expect. Not only should you make sure the address, phone number and birth dates are correct when you have a new patient -- you should make sure you have their gender correct. For example, if their name is Casey, you should make sure you know their gender. Casey is a BISXEXUAL name. You should make sure if you know if they are male or female."

This would be hilarious, normally. This happening in a class with the name "Communications?" Priceless.

Reply | Thread

(no subject)

from: anonymous
date: Dec. 1st, 2007 08:39 am (UTC)
Link

You still have to take cultural competency as a 2nd year?!? Nooo!!!! I thought it was a 1st year thing!!!

btw, during Thanksgiving, my friend tried to tell someone why we celebrate Thanksgiving, and she mentioned Columbus, the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria too. And we were like "wow, you're like wayyyyy too ear.ly

Reply | Thread

(no subject)

from: anonymous
date: Dec. 1st, 2007 06:26 pm (UTC)
Link

email me: druglord@theangrypharmacist.com
I want to rip on UOP some more. I need info from you about this class.

Reply | Thread

Ash

(no subject)

from: [info]ravenchic
date: Dec. 9th, 2007 06:49 am (UTC)
Link

wow cultural competency classes have offensive bullshit professors across the country... good to know. ours made it a competition, unfortunately I go to an HBCU so all she really did was single out the non-black students and ask them how they were "fitting in". and we had to present our different cultures in 60 seconds or less. yes lets fit a lifetime of teachings and experiences into 60 seconds... sounds like a winning lesson plan to me.

Reply | Thread

hahaha...

from: anonymous
date: Dec. 11th, 2007 07:50 pm (UTC)
Link

I remember that class!! haha big waste of time... but the professor is really nice though... *sigh* to be in class at Pacific (it's not called UOP anymore-- lol) again. those were the days... except the week before midterms or finals.

Well, you have a lot to look forward to as an alumni! My pacific email still works... I think they forgot to turn it off :D

Reply | Thread

what??

from: anonymous
date: Dec. 27th, 2007 01:59 pm (UTC)
Link

Hey there. I like reading your blog. I am also an angry intern, and I am also puzzled as to why you have a culutral competency course. We don't have that at our school, but we have an intro course, where all of the pharmacy professors read their resumes off to us and pat themselves on the back. I feel sorry for you. I would die if I had to sit through that crap.

Reply | Thread

Cultural competence

from: anonymous
date: Feb. 4th, 2008 04:23 pm (UTC)
Link

Lowly nursing student here....Cultural competence is a sore spot among my classmates. On one hand, we're not to stereotype various racial groups, but then the textbooks and instructors usually list "typical" characteristics of those groups (which in my opinion is stereotyping). We're supposed to know these characteristics and adjust our practice to suit each group? Who has time to do that? Seriously, how are we to provide culturally competent care to everyone? It's ridiculous. I got a new one ripped the other day for suggesting to the instructor that we just forget the cultural stuff and just be nice to everyone. There's not enough room in my brain to remember which groups aren't into "eye contact" and which groups do the hot/cold & ying/yang.

Reply | Thread

A whole semester of cultural competency? Damn.

from: anonymous
date: Feb. 19th, 2008 01:05 am (UTC)
Link

Hello there, fellow pharmacy student here (class of 2010). I thought we had it bad to get about one cultural competency lecture a year. However, we've got this class called "Social and Behavioral Pharmacy" (everyone calls it "feelings") that wastes 2 hours of my life every Tuesday afternoon. May I recommend purchasing a hand-held videogame system?

Reply | Thread

Advertisement