Background and Purpose. Physical therapy programs are faced with the challenge of preparing students to be culturally competent professionals, capable of effectively bridging cultural differences within our increasingly culturally diverse world. The literature purports several means of developing cultural competence. One of the means is that of an immersion learning experience in a culturally diverse setting. Subjects. This qualitative study was conducted at a homeless shelter where physical therapist students from Thomas Jefferson University conducted a clinic on a weekly basis. The students were the subjects. Methods. This qualitative study asked the following questions: (1) What understandings, perspectives, and beliefs did the physical therapist students take from the clinical learning experience in the homeless clinic? and (2) What was the process by which the students gained these perspectives, understandings, and beliefs? Data consisted of field notes from observation sessions, transcriptions of interviews, and journal analysis. Results. Students acquired a level of cultural competency in that they came to identify, accept, and respect cultural differences of their clients. In addition, they sought to develop physical therapy interventions in line with the identified cultural differences. Students gained these understandings through personal experience and through informal mentoring. Discussion and Conclusion. The immersion experience in this homeless shelter proved to enhance the development of cultural competency in the physical therapist student and was accomplished through the immersion experience itself and informal mentoring.
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Jill D. Black (2002) studied this question.