Comprehensive Understanding of Cardiovascular Medications

Comprehensive Understanding of Cardiovascular Medications

Dora-Ann Oddo

Dental Hygiene

Principles of Dental Hygiene Care III (DEN 2300 Seminar)

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

This activity will provide dental hygiene students to gain an understanding in cardiovascular medications and how to apply this knowledge to patients’ medical history as part of their assessment process. This activity requires dental hygiene students to gain proficiency in oral communication, information literacy, and the understanding of cardiovascular medications related to their patients’ disease/condition. Students will participate in a collaborative assignment by gathering research on cardiovascular medications. After students formulate their research, students will verbally present this information to the class. In addition, the students will upload their PowerPoint presentation on OpenLab, and review classmates research based upon a rubric scale. The verbal and written discussions of this activity support critical thinking and creates meaningful in-depth discussions among students.

Learning Goals: What do you aim to achieve with this activity?

The aim of this activity is to encourage verbal communication and information literacy about patients with cardiovascular diseases/condition. The learning goal for each student is to aquire an understanding of cardiovascular medications including indication of use, oral implications, side effects, and adverse effects. This activity will enhance students’ learning and the ability to ask critical thinking questions when assessing a patient’s medications. This activity encourages oral communication, information literacy, undergraduate research, working collaboratively and using open digital pedagogy.

Timing: At what point in the lesson or semester do you use this activity? How much classroom time do you devote to it? How much out-of-class time is expected?

This activity will be implemented mid-semester and performed in the classroom for a duration of thirty minutes. The out-of-class time for students can range from one to two hours based upon their research, developing a PowerPoint, uploading the PowerPoint to OpenLab, and writing reflections on one or two students’ post.

Logistics: What preparation is needed for this activity? What instructions do you give students? Is the activity low-stakes, high-stakes, or something else?

This activity is a low-stakes assignment. The instructor will randomly select students by using the Wheel of Names. Each group will consist of three students. After the students are divided into groups, the instructor will assign each group a cardiovascular medication.
Student will be given these questions to answer:
1. Identify the brand and generic name.
2. What is the indication for use?
3. What are the oral implications?
4. How does medication affect dental hygiene treatment?
5. Does this medication have any drug interactions?
6. What is the pharmacologic category?
The students will work collaboratively with their assigned groups by researching and answering the questions. Each student will be responsible for creating a slide as part of the group’s PowerPoint presentation. The students will have a week to prepare the PowerPoint and gather information to present to the class. The lead of the group will be responsible to upload the PowerPoint on OpenLab.

The second part of this assignment will culminate
a week later when the students present the PowerPoint to the class. Students will have the opportunity to ask their peers questions. Each presentation should be about five to ten minutes. After the presentation, the students write a review on OpenLab based upon a rubric scale.

Assessment: How do you assess this activity? What assessment measures do you use? Do you use a VALUE rubric? If not, how did you develop your rubric? Is your course part of the college-wide general education assessment initiative?

This activity was developed by Oral Communications VALUE rubric. The students will be evaluate using Oral Communication Value rubric to assess proficiency preparedness, knowledge, and the ability to effectively communicate information to their classmates.

Reflection: How well did this activity work in your classroom? Would you repeat it? Why or why not? What challenges did you encounter, and how did you address them? What, if anything, would you change? What did students seem to enjoy about the activity?

This activity has not yet been implemented.

Additional Information: Please share any additional comments and further documentation of the activity – e.g. assignment instructions, rubrics, examples of student work, etc. These can be links to pages or posts on the OpenLab.

Please share a helpful link to a pages or post on the OpenLab

Discussion on the newly discovered Salivary Gland

Discussion on the newly discovered Salivary Gland

Khrystyna Vyprynyuk

Dental Hygiene

DEN 1112 Oral Anatomy

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

The activity is a discussion board assignment. Students enrolled in the DEN 1112 Oral Anatomy course are learning about multiple organ systems in the context of how they relate to the Head and Neck anatomy, dental anatomy, and the practice of a dental hygienist. The discussion topic is on the newly discovered salivary gland.

Learning Goals: What do you aim to achieve with this activity?

The goal of this activity is to promote student engagement by improving their reading skills. However, by participating in this activity students will also be incorporating their writing, information literacy, and teamwork skills.

Timing: At what point in the lesson or semester do you use this activity? How much classroom time do you devote to it? How much out-of-class time is expected?

This activity will be incorporated mid-semester as one of the homework assignments. Minimal classroom time is devoted to this activity, only enough time to go over the assignment, expectations, and technicalities (10 minutes). Students are expected to spend 2 to 3 hours out-of-class time over the course of 2 weeks to complete this assignment.

Logistics: What preparation is needed for this activity? What instructions do you give students? Is the activity low-stakes, high-stakes, or something else?

The activity is presented as a low-stakes assignment (4% of the total course grade). In preparation for this activity, students will read a chapter in the course textbook on Glandular Tissues and attend the lecture presentation on the same topic. Additionally, students will be required to read the assigned article "The tubarial salivary glands A potential new organ at risk for radiotherapy" https://www.thegreenjournal.com/article/S0167-8140%2820%2930809-4/fulltext.

The assignment consists of two parts. In the first part, students are instructed to summarize the article in at least 500 words and answer two or more of the following questions. The main post should include at least two references. One of the references should be from the article provided, additional references can be from any other scholarly article on this topic.

Questions:
1. Name one of the reasons why this mysterious gland has not been noted until now?
2. How would you classify this newly discovered gland and why?
separate organ
major salivary gland
minor salivary gland
3. What will this discovery mean in terms of sciences such as head and neck anatomy, oral pathology, radiology, or oncology?

In the second part of the assignment, students are asked to respond to at least 2 (each response is 25 points) of their classmates. A quality response should have at least 200 words. A short phrase, such as "thank you" or “good post”, will not be accepted as a quality response. Explaining why students agree or disagree with their classmates should be presented in a cordial and professional manner.

All posts are going to be available on the Open Lab course site. Incorporating open educational resources during this assignment allows students attending different sections of the same course to participate in the same assignment, which enhances collaboration and student communication.

Assessment: How do you assess this activity? What assessment measures do you use? Do you use a VALUE rubric? If not, how did you develop your rubric? Is your course part of the college-wide general education assessment initiative?

The assignment is graded as follows: main post 50% of the grade, replies to the classmates 50% (25% each). Since the target of this assignment is to evaluate students’ reading comprehension, the VALUE rubric on reading assessment will be used to grade the main post. I believe the course is not part of the college-wide gen ed assessment initiative. Despite the main SLO of this assignment being reading, other SLOs such as writing and information literacy are also evident in this assignment.

Reflection: How well did this activity work in your classroom? Would you repeat it? Why or why not? What challenges did you encounter, and how did you address them? What, if anything, would you change? What did students seem to enjoy about the activity?

This activity has been presented in a similar format during the Fall 2020 and Fall 2021 semester. It has since been modified and improved and has not yet been implemented in the new format. I am looking forward to implementing this activity in a new format, specifically on the Open Lab platform, the use of open educational resources will allow students from multiple course sections to interact with one another, develop new networking skills, and improve communication. In the past, the challenges that had been encountered were mostly due to students not following the instructions and in some cases forgetting to provide responses to their classmates. This has been modified by adding clarity to the instructions and providing clear breakdown of points distribution. I will definitely add a detailed grading rubric that would allow for more constructive feedback, incorporate main assessment points from the VALUE rubric. Students stated that they enjoyed discussion board post as a writing assignment that incorporated aspects of informal communication, allowed them to voice their opinion towards their classmates ideas in a professional manner, and that it is slightly different that what they had been assigned in the past.

Additional Information: Please share any additional comments and further documentation of the activity – e.g. assignment instructions, rubrics, examples of student work, etc. These can be links to pages or posts on the OpenLab.

One of the students was able to submit her work from a previously incorporated assignment to the CityTech Writer journal, which was selected for publication in the CTW vol. 16

Please share a helpful link to a pages or post on the OpenLab

How strong you should hit a ball to break a glass?

Adjunct Assistant Professor

Viktor Boiko

Physics

General Physics I (Phys 1433, Phys 1441)

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

The Project is based on the work of Pyotr Kapitsa, who was famous physicist and Nobel laureate. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyotr_Kapitsa)
He published book “Problems in Physics”, which include problems for discussion. These problems did not give all conditions and details for a solution, so a student can choose them.
One of such problem is: “What must be the speed of a tennis ball that can break glass?”
I modified a little bit this problem and student should find an answer on a question “How strong you should hit a ball to break a glass?” (What force should be applied)
To find an answer students should use all Physics laws and principles from a semester (Physics I) and to choose all conditions what they need for the solution.

Learning Goals: What do you aim to achieve with this activity?

What should student use during the project:
Physics
Imagination
Abstract and critical thinking
Understand how and which questions to ask
Basics of engineering design
Analytical thinking and mathematical calculations
Technical/report writing
Backward thinking
Calculation in a new soft/web program
Working with data
Working in a group

Timing: At what point in the lesson or semester do you use this activity? How much classroom time do you devote to it? How much out-of-class time is expected?

This project is one thirds of a semester. Students should do it at home. All steps would be describe during class time and all questions would be discussed in a class.

Logistics: What preparation is needed for this activity? What instructions do you give students? Is the activity low-stakes, high-stakes, or something else?

Students will have step by step instructions for this project.

Assessment: How do you assess this activity? What assessment measures do you use? Do you use a VALUE rubric? If not, how did you develop your rubric? Is your course part of the college-wide general education assessment initiative?

CRITICAL THINKING VALUE RUBRIC, PROBLEM SOLVING VALUE RUBRIC, WRITTEN COMMUNICATION VALUE RUBRIC, READING VALUE RUBRIC, CREATIVE THINKING VALUE RUBRIC (Project with wide borders for advance level of the course)

Reflection: How well did this activity work in your classroom? Would you repeat it? Why or why not? What challenges did you encounter, and how did you address them? What, if anything, would you change? What did students seem to enjoy about the activity?

Student are interested in the project, they ask a lot of questions. The assignment requires a good level of knowledge and some students have difficulties. In this case more time for a discussion should be during a class.

Additional Information: Please share any additional comments and further documentation of the activity – e.g. assignment instructions, rubrics, examples of student work, etc. These can be links to pages or posts on the OpenLab.

Please share a helpful link to a pages or post on the OpenLab

Programming in Python

Programming in Python

Marius Constantin

CET

EMT 1111

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

In the midst of the challenges we went through this Spring semester, I decided to address the priorities of general education using some critical and innovating teaching strategies, such as collaborative assignments and projects on OpenLab, ePortfolios, open educational resources to further engage my students in the new academic context.

Learning Goals: What do you aim to achieve with this activity?

Research has shown that online learning is generally less effective than face-to-face interaction and that students who are already struggling are likely to be harmed the most.
My goal is to compensate the drawbacks of remote instruction: self-discipline, time management, anxiety and depression due to isolation.

Timing: At what point in the lesson or semester do you use this activity? How much classroom time do you devote to it? How much out-of-class time is expected?

The entire semester.

Logistics: What preparation is needed for this activity? What instructions do you give students? Is the activity low-stakes, high-stakes, or something else?

In terms of high impact educational practices, I will consider collaborative assignments and projects and ePortfolios. While I will continue to request that each homework assignment to be completed and submitted individually, multiple attempts are allowed and the highest grade to be recorded. At the end of the semester, a final project in a form of a computer program will be assigned to 4 groups of students, and each student needs to have his/her collaborative share. This final project will weight 30% of the final grade for each student in the group and needs to be posted on OpenLab.

Assessment: How do you assess this activity? What assessment measures do you use? Do you use a VALUE rubric? If not, how did you develop your rubric? Is your course part of the college-wide general education assessment initiative?

Inquiry and Analysis is the rubric I chose to assess the students’ needs. For a proper inquiry I need to identify what doesn’t work for them and then analyze these findings by chunking down information into smaller parts, or from abstract to more specific concepts for a better understanding.

Reflection: How well did this activity work in your classroom? Would you repeat it? Why or why not? What challenges did you encounter, and how did you address them? What, if anything, would you change? What did students seem to enjoy about the activity?

To compensate for the lack of physical presence I will continue to provide, and even improve, a supportive learning environment where all students feel comfortable participating.
Attendance was the foremost concern, followed by internet connectivity issues.

Additional Information: Please share any additional comments and further documentation of the activity – e.g. assignment instructions, rubrics, examples of student work, etc. These can be links to pages or posts on the OpenLab.

I shall continue to use My Programming Lab, a excellent cloud-based tool, for the following reasons:
a. it provides a personalized learning experience that improves results for each student;
b. it contains a set of programming exercises correlated with the textbook that are focused on
a particular topic;
c. the feedback offered to students helps them master the syntax, semantics and basic usage
of Python programming language;
d. autonomous practice, where the feedback provided allows students to easily identify both compiling and logic errors in their code.

Please share a helpful link to a pages or post on the OpenLab

Increasing Students’ Intercultural Knowledge and Competency

Increasing Students’ Intercultural Knowledge and Competency

Elizabeth Parks

Architectural Technology

Design IV

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

As part of their design of a new museum building located on the CityTech campus, students are asked to select a theme for their collection that is drawn from their own culture. This gives them an opportunity to perform research to select exhibits and then to share what they have learned with their classmates.

Learning Goals: What do you aim to achieve with this activity?

The goal is to increase their own understanding of their cultural heritage and to develop an attitude toward what they have learned. The process of developing an attitude introduces an external framework to their knowledge and they can use that framework to drive the strategies they employ in their design process. The studio setting of the classroom allows the process and the results to be shared with all the members of the class.

Timing: At what point in the lesson or semester do you use this activity? How much classroom time do you devote to it? How much out-of-class time is expected?

The design of the museum is completed in approximately 11 weeks during a regular semester.

Logistics: What preparation is needed for this activity? What instructions do you give students? Is the activity low-stakes, high-stakes, or something else?

When the project is introduced the students are told that they will chose the theme and content of the museum exhibits. They are asked to reflect on their cultural backgrounds and come up with a theme drawn from their experience or understanding. They are asked explicitly "What do you want to teach visitors to your museum?" For some students the choice is high-stakes, but the selection of a theme is not graded. The theme will influence the design strategy that they use in the creation of the building, and it is hoped that the passion they feel for their theme will further engage them in the design process. However, even students who have a more neutral stance toward their theme are able to successfully complete the project.

Assessment: How do you assess this activity? What assessment measures do you use? Do you use a VALUE rubric? If not, how did you develop your rubric? Is your course part of the college-wide general education assessment initiative?

The students are asked to reflect on their projects, the process and the outcome. And they are asked to respond to the reflections of their peers. The revised assignment, using cultural -based themes for the design, is being taught in the Summer 2020 session and will be integrated into the Fall 2020 semester as well. For the summer session the reflections will be graded as part of the class participation, with a low stakes impact on their grade. The results will be reviewed for Fall 2020.

Reflection: How well did this activity work in your classroom? Would you repeat it? Why or why not? What challenges did you encounter, and how did you address them? What, if anything, would you change? What did students seem to enjoy about the activity?

I was inspired by several students from earlier semesters, who chose to use very personal themes instead of the History of New York , which was part of the original project brief. Those students were engaged very productively in the design process which resulted in very interesting projects. Summer 2020 is the first semester that the cultural theme has officially been part of the project description. I was initially leery about asking students to be ambassadors for their cultures but the response has been very positive so far. About half the students have chosen emotionally charged themes involving topics of colonization, immigration, segregation, and stereotypes. Others have a more neutral position toward the material, but recognize that proposing a museum dedicated to Nubian culture is a statement in its own right.

Additional Information: Please share any additional comments and further documentation of the activity – e.g. assignment instructions, rubrics, examples of student work, etc. These can be links to pages or posts on the OpenLab.

The following is a link to my portfolio on open lab which contains the presentation of the revised assignment created as part of a Gen Ed Living Lab workshop during the Spring 2020 semester.
https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/eparks-portfolio/teaching-portfolio/syllabi-assignments/

Please share a helpful link to a pages or post on the OpenLab

https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/eparks-portfolio/teaching-portfolio/syllabi-assignments/

A Mock Cultural interaction between a Hmong immigrant family and American Doctor

A Mock Cultural interaction between a Hmong immigrant family and American Doctor

Lisa Pope Fischer

Social Science

ANTH 2000: Medical Anthropology

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

This is a teaching exercise, or module, that will lead up to a mock interaction between a Hmong patient and American doctor. Essential to Anthropology is the ability to be sensitive to cultural differences. In terms of understandings of illness, one culture may have a different interpretation of, and different treatment for particular illnesses. I designed this exercise by drawing on issues and concerns presented in Ann Fadiman’s work with Hmong immigrants (1997, 2000). The objective of this module is to teach students skills of perception and interpretation. The module begins with reviewing some basic anthropological concepts and key terms. The duration of the exercise requires preliminary preparation such as assigning the readings to the students. The in class activity should allow time to discuss and review the material. This exercise would be suitable for smaller class sizes no larger than 40 but perhaps could be modified for a lecture demonstration or online learning if students handed in written descriptions.

Learning Goals: What do you aim to achieve with this activity?

The General Education Outcomes that the assignment aims to achieve are: Intercultural knowledge and Competence.
This lesson addresses: Cultural self-awareness, knowledge of cultural worldviews, empathy, shared forms of communication, curiosity, and openness .The objective of this module is to briefly outline the anthropological concepts of “cultural relativism,” “worldview” and “emic/etic” as tools for understanding that different cultures may interpret illness differently. This is important in terms of making diagnoses as well as treating patients in a culturally sensitive manner. Cultural relativism is an approach in anthropology that tries to maintain a neutral non-judgmental stance, showing both “empathy” for cultural differences, as well as “openness” to see cultures that are different from our own without bias. This exercise looks at beliefs regarding health and illness from Hmong culture teaching “openness” to other perceptions of health. A young girl is misdiagnosed due to cultural misinterpretation causing dire consequences, so the aim is that students can imagine their perspective, to learn “empathy.” “Worldview” is a concept central to anthropology, looking at how individuals perceive their world and their place in it, which can be different in different cultures. Emic and Etic are common concepts in anthropology that try to show differences in perception, “cultural self-awareness,” the emic being the perspective of the people we study, and etic being the outsider’s perspective, the perspective of the anthropologist who analyzes the culture. This assignment in particular looks at an example where communication between cultures lead to a horrible outcome for one little girl, and the aim is to try to understand and create “shared forms of communication” to avoid such a tragedy again. As a mock patient and doctor interaction, the students learn “curiosity” and “critical thinking” as, they articulate responses based on two different cultural worldviews related to health and healing showing ability to see things from multiple cultural perspectives. In terms of High Impact Educational Practices (HIEP), this exercise uses collaborative learning. Diversity and global learning, and community based learning. It will become part of my Open Lab site for ANTH 2000: Medical Anthropology, and Blackboard.

Timing: At what point in the lesson or semester do you use this activity? How much classroom time do you devote to it? How much out-of-class time is expected?

The in class activity should allow time to present the concepts and themes, and have students perform the mock patient and healthcare practitioner scenario, followed by discussion of the issues raised in the reading and presentation. One standard hour –fifteen-minute class period would suffice but allowing a class period to view the film might expand the topic. This exercise would be suitable for smaller class sizes no larger than 40 but perhaps could be modified for a lecture demonstration if students handed in written responses to the discussion questions.

Film Suggestion:
“Split Horn: Journey of a Hmong Shaman” (2001, 56 minutes)

Logistics: What preparation is needed for this activity? What instructions do you give students? Is the activity low-stakes, high-stakes, or something else?

The module begins with reviewing some basic anthropological concepts and key terms. The Fadiman book The Spirit Catches You, wonderfully exemplifies issues of cultural difference and perceptions of illness, but she also has a short article that focuses on epilepsy that can also be used to illustrate cultural difference. A full-length film documents the story of a Hmong shaman, (Split Horn), but you can also use short video clips to illustrate the point of cultural difference. The duration of the exercise requires preliminary preparation such as assigning the readings to the students and handouts for the mock patient/healthcare practitioner interaction.

Fadiman, Ann. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures. Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 1997.

Fadiman, Ann. "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down": Epilepsy and the Hmong. Epilepsy & Behavior: E&B [Epilepsy Behav] 2000 Feb; Vol. 1 (1), pp. S3-S8.

Activity: Cultural Perceptions
I.Review the Anthropological concepts either using PowerPoint or in handouts. This exercise gets students to think about how we might be quick to judge other cultures (ethnocentrism), yet also understand how others might perceive us.

KEY TERMS/ CONCEPTS:
Cultural Relativism: Anthropologists attempt to be neutral non-judgmental observers that take into account the culture’s practices relative to their own cultural understandings.

Ethnocentrism: People might judge a culture’s practices in a negative manner simply because they might be different from their own. Anthropologists try not to be “ethnocentric” or “Western centric” as it is important to understand why a culture might perceive or do something rather than judge it in a prejudice manner.

Emic/Etic: Anthropologists use the concept “emic” to explain the perspective of the people one studies. How do the people perceive their culture? How do they interpret the world in which they live? In contrast, the anthropologist must also retain the “etic” perspective, the view of the scientific observer. The etic perspective allows the anthropologist to step back and analyze the culture using the various theories in which to interpret a culture’s practices (i.e. Cultural Marxism/social conflict theory, Functionalism, Practice theory, Reflexive Anthropology/writing culture, etc.)

Worldview: Refers to how a person views their world and their place within it. Whereas some people may define themselves and behave according to a religious worldview, an atheist can also have a worldview. Different cultures may have different types of worldviews that affect perceptions of time and space, feelings about moral behavior, how they think about and how they seem themselves within their society.

Culture Bound illnesses: These are illness that might be found within particular societies.

Mind/Body dualism: Western medicine tends to separate understandings of how illness in the body might be separated from the mind whereas many cultures see the two as closely related.

II. Give illustrative examples to spur discussion about ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. Encourage students to look at cultures in a culturally relative way by reminding them that people outside our own culture may view American practices as unusual as well.

1. Female brutality or beauty? Female circumcision is a practice in which elders cut off a young woman’s clitoris to prepare her for womanhood. Some refer to this as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). This practice evokes much debate about brutality and mutilation of women, yet studies indicate that women from these societies may perceive this practice as a means to obtain purity and femininity (Gruenbaum 2006). Ask students in what ways do American women brutalize their bodies in the pursuit of femininity or beauty? To shock them you might show an image of the Cat lady who has had too many plastic surgeries, or a hyper thin anorexic looking fashion model. (See suggested short video clips from youtube below – following the bibliography)

2.Food delicacy or garbage? Students often cringe when they hear that in some cultures grub worms or monkey brains might be considered a delicacy, however, there are foods that Americans eat that other cultures might find repulsive. How, for example are grub worms similar to shrimp? For people outside the United States, peanut butter might look like mud or feces. People might perceive fine cheese as smelly rotten dairy. In the south, or even at the Coney Island Nathans, one can buy fried frog legs. Americans often perceive French food as elite fine food, yet they make “escargot” from common snails, and they perceive horsemeat as a healthy specialty.

III. Discuss how the above examples illustrate an understanding of “ethnocentrism,” but also connect to the idea of “emic” and “etic” as a matter of different cultural perceptions. Expand their understanding of emic /etic by connecting to an example of interpretations of cultural illness.

In Freed’s (1999) work, “Taraka’s Ghost”, a young bride in a strange new village experiences spirit possession, but is this a form of anxiety attack or depression? Would anti-depressants work if she truly believed she needed a shaman to remove the spirit? Several anthropologists have looked at the culture bound illness “Susto” prevalent among Mexican and other Hispanic communities in which they believe a person who has a sudden fright or trauma may develop loss of energy, loss of appetite, sleeplessness, and depression. Whereas from a Western medical perspective “susto” might be explained as a psychosocial illness in which the person becomes antisocial and uses the excuse of illness to withdraw, “susto” also has underlying physical symptoms that may be covering up serious illnesses such as diabetes (Poss & Jezewszi 2002) or tuberculosis (Rubel and Moore 2001), or hypoglycemia (Bolton 1981).

IV. Instigate discussion of the suggested Fadimon reading with a mock patient and doctor interaction exercise. You can have student volunteers improvise a discussion between an ill person and a healthcare practitioner or have the students all do the exercise in pairs. The exercise creates a scenario between a Hmong immigrant family with a sick daughter and a Western medical practitioner. Discussion should follow the exercise.

HANDOUT FOR STUDENTS:
Each student will improvise or act out a “scene” that depicts a Hmong patient with a healthcare practitioner. We will discuss the reading in light of themes that result from this mock patient/doctor exercise.

PERSON ONE: You are a Hmong immigrant whose baby daughter is sick. Based on what you read in Fadiman’s article or book, how might a Hmong patient describe and present their illness.

Consider the following:
The immigrants understanding of the illness or self-diagnosis: The spirit catches you and you fall down. Her older sister slammed the door so loudly that her spirit was scared out of her and she fell down. Illness may have many causes but can be due to a loss of the soul to a malevolent spirit. It might be a sign that she will grow up to be a high status Shaman who can go into a trance and see the spirits and in this regard this illness (epilepsy) is highly distinguished and should not be cured as it may lead to prestige later in life.

Cultural perception of illness and health:
• Will not take pills if the colors are inauspicious.
• Will refuse surgery, anesthesia, autopsies, blood tests, and spinal taps.
•May wear a white “spirit string” on wrist that can’t be cut off while they are ill as their soul might endlessly wander.
• Hmong traditional medicine may include herbs, amulets, and animal sacrifices.

PERSON TWO: you are a health care professional and you are trying to understand or interpret what the person is saying to develop a diagnosis. Based on what you read in Fadiman’s article or book, how might a Western Doctor describe and interpret the illness.

Consider the following:
Western Medicines cultural understanding of illness:
• Customs and traditions – desensitized empathy.
• Cultural taboos- perception that only Western medicine can cure and to look at “alternative” practices would be inappropriate. There may be legal rules or “taboos” in treating patients, especially children.
• Hierarchies—tend to be “rational” and controlling.
•Have their own language that an ordinary patient might not understand.

What type of questions does a typical healthcare practitioner ask?
• What is your name, your date of birth
• What brought you in today? What is your illness?
• What kind of symptoms are you experiencing?
• What is your medical history? Do you have prior ailments, surgeries, and/or allergies?
• What medications do you take?
• Is there a family history of illness? Does heart disease or diabetes run in your family?
• Can your occupation play a role in your illness?
•Review of systems: do you have headaches, vision troubles, trouble swallowing, nausea, etc.

How might a Western doctor interpret the Hmong explanation about a malevolent spirit causing the illness?
Symptoms /diagnosis from Doctor’s perspective: At first the doctors did not understand the parents and thought Lia had bronchitis or pneumonia and prescribed antibiotics. After the third time taking Lia to the hospital they saw she was suffering from a sudden attack of seizures or convulsions.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AFTER MOCK PATIENT/DOCTOR INTERACTION:

1. How might differences in language affect diagnosis and treatment? Why is it important to have access to skilled interpreters? What might be the challenges of having an interpreter?

2. How might cultural differences affect diagnosis and treatment? How might it be helpful to practice both allopathic and folk medicine? What are the challenges?

3. How did the patient interpret the doctor? What did they think about the doctor and his/her treatment of them?

4. How did the doctor interpret the patient? What did the doctor think about the patient? (I.e. “noncompliance” – patient’s refusal to disregard instructions)

5. What is the “culture of medicine”? How do Western doctors perceive health, illness, diagnosis and treatment?

6. How is Western medicine linked to legal practices (i.e. Child protective services/child endangerment, Brain dead = death) and how might this conflict with the patient’s perspective?

7. Why is the patient’s view of their illness important even if it is culturally different from the Western Medical perspective?

8. How might there be inequality between doctor and patient? How might a patient’s perception of doctor’s as authority figures impact their interaction with the doctor?

9. Why is it important, as Fadiman suggests, for health care practitioners to “develop certain habits of listening, empathy, and flexibility” (2000: 6).

10. Why does Fadiman suggest doctors to ask : What do you think caused this illness? What do you call this illness? What are you most afraid of?

Assessment: How do you assess this activity? What assessment measures do you use? Do you use a VALUE rubric? If not, how did you develop your rubric? Is your course part of the college-wide general education assessment initiative?

Assessment for Intercultural Knowledge and Competence:
Student Learning Outcomes (SLO): Cultural Self Awareness, Cultural Worldview, Empathy, Verbal and Non-verbal communication, Curiosity/critical thinking, Openness.

(SLO) Knowledge: Cultural Self Awareness.
Intercultural Experience.
“The experience of an interaction with an individual or groups of people whose culture is different from your own. Intercultural/cultural differences: The differences in rules, behaviors, communication and biases, based on cultural values that are different from one's own culture(AAC&U).”

Assessment of Cultural Self Awareness:
Emic and Etic are common concepts in anthropology that try to show differences in perception, “cultural self-awareness,” the emic being the perspective of the people we study, and etic being the outsider’s perspective, the perspective of the anthropologist who analyzes the culture. The exercise tries to get students to understand Hmong cultural beliefs from their perspective (emic) but also be able to analyze and interpret them from an etic perspective (The anthropologist or doctor)

(SLO) Knowledge: Knowledge of cultural worldview frameworks.
“Worldview is the cognitive and affective lens through which people construe their experiences and make sense of the world around them(AAC&U).”

Assessment of cultural worldview frameworks.
“Worldview” is a concept central to anthropology, looking at how individuals perceive their world and their place in it, which can be different in different cultures. This exercise looks at the worldview from American culture in contrast to Hmong culture.

(SLO) Skills: Empathy.
"Empathy is the imaginary participation in another person’s experience, including emotional and intellectual dimensions, by imagining his or her perspective (not by assuming the person’s position). (Bennett 1998)"

Assessment of Empathy.
Cultural relativism is an approach in anthropology that tries to maintain a neutral non-judgmental stance, showing “empathy” for cultural differences. This exercises looks at beliefs regarding health and illness from Hmong culture. A young girl is misdiagnosed due to cultural misinterpretation causing dire consequences, so the aim is that students can imagine their perspective.

(SLO) Skills: Verbal and nonverbal communication.
Articulates cultural understanding of verbal & nonverbal forms of communication and show ability to create shared understandings.

Assessment of Verbal and nonverbal communication.
This assignment in particular looks at an example where communication between cultures lead to a horrible outcome for one little girl, and the aim is to try to understand and create “shared forms of communication” to avoid such a tragedy again.

(SLO) Attitudes: Curiosity/critical thinking.
Able to question and articulate responses showing ability to see things from multiple cultural perspectives.

Assessment of Curiosity/critical thinking
As a mock patient and doctor interaction, the students learn “curiosity” and “critical thinking” as, they articulate responses based on two different cultural worldviews related to health and healing showing ability to see things from multiple cultural perspectives.

(SLO) Attitudes: Openness.
Suspends Judgment in valuing their interaction with culturally different others.
“Postpones assessment or evaluation (positive or negative) of interactions with people culturally different from one self. Disconnecting from the process of automatic judgment and taking time to reflect on possibly multiple meanings” (AAC&U).”.

Assessment of Openness.
Cultural relativism is an approach in anthropology that tries to maintain a neutral non-judgmental stance, showing “openness” to see cultures that are different from our own without bias. This exercises looks at beliefs regarding health and illness from Hmong culture.

Association of American Colleges and Universities. "Intercultural Knowledge and Competence VALUE Rubric." 2009. https://www.aacu.org/value/rubrics/intercultural-knowledge.

Bennett, J. 1998. Transition shock: Putting culture shock in perspective. In Basic concepts of intercultural communication, ed. M. Bennett, 215-224. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press.

Reflection: How well did this activity work in your classroom? Would you repeat it? Why or why not? What challenges did you encounter, and how did you address them? What, if anything, would you change? What did students seem to enjoy about the activity?

I have not been able to run the ANTH 2000 “Medical Anthropology” class yet for lack of enrollment, but I hope to try to offer it in the Spring 2021. I am not sure how I could adapt this lesson for online learning if that should continue, but perhaps have students write response papers.

Additional Information: Please share any additional comments and further documentation of the activity – e.g. assignment instructions, rubrics, examples of student work, etc. These can be links to pages or posts on the OpenLab.

Materials needed
1) Anthropology key terms
2) Readings:
Book: Fadiman, Ann. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures. Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 1997.
OR
Article: Fadiman, Ann. "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down": Epilepsy and the Hmong. Epilepsy & Behavior: E&B [Epilepsy Behav] 2000 Feb; Vol. 1 (1), pp. S3-S8.
(Available thru City Tech library article database EBSCO)
3) Xerox of mock patient/healthcare practitioner scenario (https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/popefischeranth2000medicalanthro/files/2020/06/Intercultural-Knowledge-and-Competence-for-ANTH-2000-Medical-Anthro-.pdf)
4) Optional: Video “Split Horn: Journey of a Hmong Shaman”. Or you might show a short video clip from youtube that shows a Hmong Shaman doing a ritual cure (See suggestions below after bibliography of references and suggested reading).

Other Resources
Possible links:
•Pdf course notes
•Powerpoint slides
•List of online resources
• Google images are a good way to find pictures AND Youtube.com has a number of short video clips.

REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READING:
Arntfield, Shannon L., Kristen Slesar, Jennifer Dickson, Rita Charon “Narrative medicine as a means of training medical students toward residency competencies” Patient Education and Counseling. Volume 91, Issue 3, June 2013, Pages 280–286

Bolton, Ralph (1981) “Susto, Hostility, and Hypoglycemia” Ethnology , Vol. 20, No. 4 (Oct., 1981), pp. 261-276.

Fadiman, Ann. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures. Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 1997.

Fadiman, Ann. "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down": Epilepsy and the Hmong. Epilepsy & Behavior: E&B [Epilepsy Behav] 2000 Feb; Vol. 1 (1), pp. S3-S8.

Freed, Stanley A. and Ruth Freed (1999) “Taraka’s Ghost,” Natural History, October 1999, pp. 84-91.

Gruenbaum, Ellen. “Sexuality Issues In the Movement to Abolish Female Genital Cutting in Sudan.” Medical Anthropology Quarterly, Vol. 20, Number 1, (2006) pp. 121-138

Hahn, Robert A. and Marcia Inhorn (eds.) (2010) Anthropology and Public Health, Second Edition: Bridging Differences in Culture and Society.Oxford University Press.

Kleinman A, Eisenberg L, Good B. Culture, illness, and care: clinical lessons from anthropologic and cross-cultural research. Ann Intern Med 1978;88:251–8

Oubre, Alondra. Shamanic trance and the placebo effect: The case for a study in psychobiological anthropology. PSI Research, Vol 5(1-2), Mar-Jun, 1986. pp. 116-144.

Poss, Jane and Mary Ann Jezewski (2002) “The Role and Meaning of Susto in Mexican Americans' Explanatory Model of Type 2 Diabetes” Medical Anthropology Quarterly , New Series, Vol. 16, No. 3 (Sep., 2002), pp. 360-377

Rubel, Arthur J. and Carmella C. Moore (2001)”The Contribution of Medical Anthropology to a Comparative Study of Culture: Susto and Tuberculosis” Medical Anthropology Quarterly, New Series, Vol. 15, No. 4, Special Issue: The Contributions of Medical Anthropology to Anthropology and Beyond (Dec., 2001), pp. 440-454

Thompson, Jennifer Jo Ritenbaugh, Cheryl Nichter, Mark. Reconsidering the placebo response from a broad anthropological perspective. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, Vol 33(1), Mar, 2009. pp. 112-152.

Suggested photograph images or videolinks:
Film Suggestion:
Split Horn: Journey of a Hmong Shaman

The spiritual healing of Hmong Shamanism (7:28)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymJnUHxqRpE

ASA Documentary: Second Generation Hmong Shaman (33:39)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrSZBsGn-4M

Anorexic Models: The curse of fashion modeling (2:47)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK-Lhy-HqCs

Extreme Plastic Surgery (8:42)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R149OXxsGg

The link on Open lab includes the handout I would give students:

Click to access Intercultural-Knowledge-and-Competence-for-ANTH-2000-Medical-Anthro-.pdf

Please share a helpful link to a pages or post on the OpenLab

Click to access Intercultural-Knowledge-and-Competence-for-ANTH-2000-Medical-Anthro-.pdf