Turns out, you can't just hand a future pharmacist a textbook and expect them to suddenly care about a patient's entire life story. Which, if you think about it, is a pretty crucial part of healthcare.
That's where Samford University's McWhorter School of Pharmacy steps in. They're not just teaching anatomy; they're teaching something far more squishy and essential: cultural humility, advocacy, and teamwork. All because the folks who accredit pharmacists demand it. The goal? "Whole-person care" — understanding that a patient's health isn't just about their meds, but also their social, cultural, and environmental baggage. Or, as they put it, knowing how to "actively engage, listen, and communicate" and "mitigate health disparities."
The "Other Culture" Assignment
Jonathan Thigpen, an assistant dean, noticed his students were a bit… comfortable. Not exactly ideal for people about to deal with, well, people. So, he cooked up the "other culture" assignment for first-year students. The rules are simple, yet profoundly uncomfortable:
We're a new kind of news feed.
Regular news is designed to drain you. We're a non-profit built to restore you. Every story we publish is scored for impact, progress, and hope.
Start Your News Detox- Pick a culture that isn't yours. Something you're genuinely curious about.
- Immerse yourself for an hour. Alone. No phone. No notes. Just… be.
- Reflect. Write a two-to-three-page essay connecting it all back to class.
The results from this private Christian university in Alabama have been fascinating. Some students dipped their toes into different faith communities — a Protestant at a Catholic service, for example. Others explored different classes or races. One woman, presumably not a regular, found herself at a car auction. Another, used to a white-collar life, ate in a blue-collar cafeteria. Which, honestly, sounds like a reality TV show waiting to happen.
Even more striking? Some students chose cultures they'd been taught to fear. One student, whose family had struggled with gambling, visited a casino for the first time. Talk about facing your demons.
Students often came back reporting insights that felt genuinely earned. An international student visiting a Texas cattle stockyard realized that actually being somewhere is fundamentally different from seeing it on a screen. "To know a culture," they wrote, "it is not enough to just watch their movies or read about them... What we feel and experience when interacting with them... is so much more valuable."
A white student who visited a Black church found that their anxiety about being in a different cultural setting was entirely self-made. "I was surrounded by people different from me," they shared, "yet everyone treated me like family." Turns out, people are just people. Who knew?
Small Steps, Big Leaps
Thigpen later realized that sometimes, the biggest shifts come from the smallest steps. Take Briana Watson, a Black student from a small town. She decided to visit a European antique store owned by a white Samford faculty member. Watson initially felt guarded, recalling childhood experiences in similar delicate, and often unwelcoming, shops. But her professor welcomed her warmly, and the tension evaporated. They bonded over shared military family backgrounds.
What started as a simple assignment ended with a deep connection. That professor became a mentor, and they even traveled to Spain together. Watson realized how much the labels "professor" and "student" can create barriers, and how breaking them down fosters trust. She now plans to carry that lesson into her pharmacy practice, creating welcoming spaces and being open to every viewpoint.
Character scientist Elise Dykhuis points out a few genius moves in Thigpen's assignment:
- Trust and Relevance: He builds trust, then explains why this matters for their careers, framing it as "self-expansion."
- Curiosity and Autonomy: Students pick their own adventure, which fuels their motivation.
- Reflection: That essay isn't just busywork; it's how the experience actually changes you.
- Encouragement and Enjoyment: Making it a positive, community-supported experience helps it stick.
Learning to provide whole-person care is, predictably, a lifelong gig. But by intentionally cultivating courage, curiosity, and empathy, healthcare providers can continuously get better at connecting with people in all their beautiful, messy complexity. And that, if you think about it, is a prescription we could all use.
