Cultural Competence for Healthcare
Penn State Abington is committed to providing our healthcare partners with comprehensive, customized training programs that can enhance the performance of your teams. Each training program is research-based, designed and delivered by professionals who have both academic and professional experience.
Cultural Competence for Healthcare is an initiative of Penn State Abington’s Center for Intercultural Leadership and Communication (CILC) that fosters improved communication and leadership skills that result in best healthcare practices.
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Training Portfolio
- Cultural Competence
- Religious diversity/sensitivity
- Spanish Conversations for healthcare workers
- 40-hr medical interpreting training
- Exam prep for med interpreter certification test
- ESL: the next level (grammar, oral communication, etc)
- Supervision Essentials for healthcare
- Diversity 2.0
Call Kena Sears, Office of Continuing Education, at 215-881-7388 and ask about how Penn State Abington can assess your training needs. | Print flyer
Program Details
Cultural Competence
Healthcare systems, organizations and professionals must provide for diverse patient populations high-quality care that is safe, patient and family centered, evidenced based, and equitable. This training will assist healthcare professionals with the task of defining cultural competence within their respective organization. Strategies and exercises will be used that can be applied immediately to their workplace environment.
Religious Diversity/Sensitivity
Understanding a person’s religious beliefs is critical for healthcare workers as it affects patient care. This course will equip healthcare workers with religious sensitivity training that includes end of life rituals, cultural differences and religious symbolism.
Spanish for Healthcare Professionals
Healthcare workers with limited Spanish proficiency will benefit from this course, as it provides conversational Spanish training to staff that includes but is not limited to:
- Emergency room personnel Terminology
- Registration staff Anatomy
- Nurses Cultural sensitivity
Customized training is offered to cohorts based on initial language comprehension assessments (basic and intermediate).
40-hr medical interpreting training
Designed for new Medical Interpreters who need the mandatory 40-hour training to become certified medical interpreters. Our health care interpreting training program goes a step beyond most interpreting programs that focus on translating and include the complex cultural, social and psychological factors involved in helping people understand one another. Training will align closely with Joint Commission standards of excellence and best practices for health care settings with special emphasis on:
- The Role of Medical Interpreters as Patient Advocates
- Cultural Sensitivity and Awareness
- Ethical dilemmas
Medical Interpreter National Certification Exam Prep
Medical Interpreters will receive training that will prepare them to take the National Certification Medical Interpreting exam. Topics include medical terminology, ethic, cultural awareness and other test-related topics.
ESL: The next level
Designed for healthcare professionals who have taken an ESL course but desire further training. Grammar, oral and written communication training will be included in this training along with practice exercises.
Supervision Essentials for healthcare: Advancing Leadership for Healthcare
Supervision Essentials for Nurse Managers and Other Health Care Professionals is designed to help you develop the skills you need to be an effective supervisor in the health care arena. This will provide a solid foundation for newly appointed supervisors and help more experienced supervisors advance to the next level of performance.
- Build valuable work relationships and develop a personal leadership style
- Learn how to manage your time effectively
- Select and develop high-performance employees
Diversity 2.0
A workshop with interactive presentations, discussions, interaction, assessments and action plans. Topics include: integrating diversity into strategic planning; cultural intelligence and leadership; intercultural communication styles; supervisor and supervisee; bridging the communication gap; how gender and generation affect communication; managing change with diverse participants.