A quantitative assessment of the cultural knowledge, attitudes, and experiences of junior and senior dietetics students.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the cultural competence of dietetics majors. DESIGN: Self-administered questionnaire. SETTING: Classrooms at 7 universities. PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred eighty-three students-98 juniors (34.6%) and 185 seniors (65.4%)-recruited during class time. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Knowledge was measured using a multiple-choice test, attitudes were assessed using scales, and experiences were measured using a list of activities. ANALYSIS: Descriptive statistics were obtained on all variables. Correlation analyses identified associations between competencies. Statistical significance was P < .05. RESULTS: Knowledge scores were highest on questions concerning food habits and lowest on questions concerning health beliefs. Approximately 45% of the students preferred to counsel clients from their own culture. A majority (89.2%) favored allocation of nutrition resources to assist culturally diverse clients in managing chronic diseases, and 65.7% favored the inclusion of more cultural information in their dietetics curriculum. The intercultural activities engaged in most often were eating ethnic food and watching films about other cultures, whereas those undertaken least often were completing a study abroad program or an internship abroad. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: These students would benefit from more interactive intercultural learning opportunities to enhance their knowledge base and communication skills.