Diversity & Inclusion

Healthy Perspectives

Culturally responsive care is essential for becoming a successful healthcare professional. It shows an appreciation and respect for multiple dimensions of diversity; helps to engage culturally diverse perspectives as a resource for learning and to recognize and appropriately address bias in healthcare professionals.

Office of Diversity and Inclusion is proud to present Healthy Perspectives training, which is offered to all first-year healthcare professional students at Augusta University. It is free of charge and appears on students’ D2L. This course aims to help you offer culturally competent care to patients or clients by providing knowledge of health disparities and health equity, by helping develop skills to effectively communicate with patients in cross-cultural settings, by encouraging to understand unconscious bias in medicine, and by providing space for self-reflection.

Course Objectives:

  1. Demonstrate knowledge about health disparities and health equity in the United States.
  2. Recognize the importance of understanding self and personal biases, assumptions and own cultural backgrounds and practices.
  3. Appreciate the differences that exist within and across cultural groups and the need to avoid overgeneralization and negative stereotyping.
  4. Demonstrate culturally sensitive verbal and non-verbal communication skills with respect to age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, nationality and religion.

 

If you have any questions, please reach out to the Office of Diversity & Inclusion via odi@augusta.edu.

What do you have to do?

Healthy Perspectives comes in two parts. First part is taken in the fall semester and involves taking Diversity Inclusion and Belonging online training. The second part, Healthy Perspectives itself, is offered in the spring semester and includes four modules: Introduction to Health Equity, Unconscious Bias, Cross-Cultural Communication, and Self-reflection. We also offer a debriefing session with a guest speaker and a Q&A session regarding any of the modules. Both parts will appear on your D2L.

How long does each module take to complete?


The first three modules should take about 40-45 minutes each. Self-Reflection module and Debriefing session are optional and are there to provide space for students to reflect on their learning and ask questions.

Is Healthy Perspectives a Requirement?

Previously, it was a required training, but recently we’ve changed it so each school and program could decide for themselves. Ask your program coordinator/director if you need to take this course.