ImaStory

My Journey to Cultural Competence Author: Rachel Gremminger

My name is Rachel Gremminger. I am a sophomore at UWM studying Psychology with the intent to obtain my masters in Occupational Therapy. In my free time, I enjoy reading, listening to music, watching Netflix, drinking lots of coffee, and hanging out with my family and friends.

Shared Chapters
Self-Assessment of Understanding of Cultural Diversity Issues
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Thursday, February 09, 2017 to Sunday, February 19, 2017
Before I took this quiz, I thought that I had a fair amount of knowledge about other cultural views because of many courses I have taken that have exposed me to different cultures. I was surprised, however, to find out that I still have a very long way to go. I answered 16 of the 23 questions correctly and many of the questions I got wrong involved practices in different cultures and how they differ from my own. I do not think that I have prejudices per say, I try to be a very nonjudgmental individual when meeting new people. I like to try to learn as much as I can abou ...continued...
  • By: Rachel  Gremminger
  • Sunday, February 19, 2017, 10:35:00 PM
  • updated: Sunday, February 19, 2017 10:42:00 PM
Learning Goals
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Monday, February 20, 2017 to Thursday, March 02, 2017
After review of the course syllabus, learning goals, and the results of my self-assessment, my learning goals for the rest of this course are: 1. To gain more knowledge about numerous cultural beliefs, practices, attitudes, and ways of communicating as to better understand how this effects people’s view on medicine so I can become more aware of how to best serve patients of all different cultures in my future. 2. To understand my own cultural experiences and how these influence biases that I possess and work to overcome these biases to become a more culturally competent ...continued...
  • By: Rachel  Gremminger
  • Thursday, March 02, 2017, 5:43:00 PM
  • updated: Thursday, March 02, 2017 5:44:00 PM
Interprofessional Awareness and CLAS Standards
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Friday, March 03, 2017 to Monday, March 13, 2017
I would like to become an occupational therapist and I was able to locate the American Occupational Therapy Association's (AOTA) Code of Ethics and compared them to the CLAS standards. The standards that the AOTA sets are very similar to the CLAS standards. This makes a lot of sense as the CLAS standards are set by the US government as standards that should be followed in all healthcare interactions. Both the AOTA and CLAS standards make quality care the principle standard. The principle CLAS standard states that healthcare providers should “provi ...continued...
  • By: Rachel  Gremminger
  • Monday, March 13, 2017, 9:21:00 PM
  • updated: Monday, March 13, 2017 9:21:00 PM
Cultural Event Summary
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Wednesday, March 22, 2017 to Saturday, April 01, 2017
I attended the International Coffee Hour hosted by the Inclusive Excellence Center on campus this past Thursday 3/30. This International Coffee Hour featured food and coffee drinks from Colombia including Colombian coffee, Enyucado (a cake type of dessert), and Afajor (dulce de leche flavored cookies). A group called AIESEC was presenting on their work around the world. AIESEC is a group that provides students with opportunities to travel abroad and work in volunteer or internship type jobs while living with a family or another group of students. These students help bet ...continued...
  • By: Rachel  Gremminger
  • Saturday, April 01, 2017, 4:46:00 PM
  • updated: Saturday, April 01, 2017 4:46:00 PM
Diversity Resources
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Wednesday, March 22, 2017 to Saturday, April 01, 2017
Primary Care for Underserved Populations: Navigating Policy to Incorporate Occupational Therapy Into Federally Qualified Health Centers. Murphy, A. et al. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, Vol. 71, Jan 2017. http://ajot.aota.org/article.aspx?articleid=2599871 This article provided information about how people belonging to underserved populations, including minority groups and low-income people, have limited access to much needed occupational therapy services. Using a case example of a federally qualified health center serving American Indian/Alaska Native popul ...continued...
  • By: Rachel  Gremminger
  • Saturday, April 01, 2017, 10:36:00 PM
  • updated: Saturday, April 01, 2017 10:36:00 PM
Non-Ethnic Groups
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Monday, April 10, 2017 to Thursday, April 20, 2017
The statement that has resonated with me the most throughout this class is, “cultural competence is a journey”. This has become increasingly clear to me as we continue to study different population groups, each with unique beliefs and practices. And the groups we are studying in this class just scratch the surface of the wide variety of population groups that I will serve as a future healthcare professional. I firmly believe that cultural competence requires dedication and life-long commitment. One must continually work to understand cultures different from ...continued...
  • By: Rachel  Gremminger
  • Thursday, April 20, 2017, 4:52:00 PM
  • updated: Thursday, April 20, 2017 4:54:00 PM
Final Reflection
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Thursday, April 27, 2017 to Sunday, May 07, 2017
Before starting this course, I thought that I was a pretty culturally competent or at least accepting individual. I come from a very small town where there is not much cultural diversity of any kind, but since coming to UWM, I felt that I had thrived on the diversity on campus and in the city and that I had become culturally competent. I could not have been more wrong. Certainly, living in the city of Milwaukee and experiencing diversity that I had not before exposed me to different cultures and many different types of people, but I still carried many stereotypes and prejudic ...continued...
  • By: Rachel  Gremminger
  • Sunday, May 07, 2017, 1:27:00 PM
  • updated: Sunday, May 07, 2017 1:28:00 PM

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