Blog Post Challenge 9: Cultural Competence

Today in class, we talked about cultural competence, what it is, and why it’s important. What I took away from the lecture the most was how to gain cultural competence. I grew up in a small town in East Tennessee, and moving across the state to Memphis is even a huge change for me. I think it’s important in my journey through OT school and future career to have cultural competence, because I will be in contact with a wide variety of people.

Some key things we discussed in class include self-reflection, exposure, and interdisciplinary or inter-professional relationships. Self-reflection is huge in revealing to yourself what you know and think about different cultures and molding those thoughts if necessary. Like I said earlier, I grew up in a small town, and although traveling some, I haven’t had many opportunities to expose myself to other cultures. Contact with other students and professors in the OT program and other programs is a good step as well in gaining professional relationships that will continue throughout my career.

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