Developing Cultural Humility Through an Interprofessional Clinical Education Experience.

BACKGROUND

An interprofessional clinical education model operating student-led, faculty-guided clinics partnered with rural Midwest American communities lacking health care access.

PURPOSE

To evaluate how an internship, guided by the Theory of Cultural Humility, during the COVID-19 pandemic supported development of cultural humility in interprofessional health profession students.

APPROACH

Nursing, exercise science, public health, and social work participants completed an internship during early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite many experiences being suspended. Quantitative evaluation using pre-/postadministration of Foronda's Cultural Humility Scale was completed across 3 periods measuring change in cultural humility.

RESULTS

Total scores of Foronda's Cultural Humility Scale increased for all 3 periods (n = 11, n = 74, and n = 44), demonstrated by aggregate data and statistical analysis. The largest change occurred in the first period.

CONCLUSIONS

Engaging interprofessional students in experiential learning during real-life, real-time public health events creates reflection of complex practice issues while developing cultural humility.