The online Minor in Religious-Cultural Literacy for Healthcare Professions (RCL) prepares future healthcare workers with cultural competence in religious diversity. Through a low-credit program of five online courses, the RCL minor can supplement any of the numerous health-related major programs offered at Radford University and Radford University Carilion, and provides all Highlanders the opportunity to apply cultural knowledge about religions in practical professional settings. View requirements for this minor in the Catalog.

Religion matters for healthcare, for patients and providers alike. Habits and perceptions of well-being, understadnings of the body, and cultural norms about illness and healing all are deeply impacted by religion. This makes literacy about religion and health a distinct component of cultural competence and a key knowledge area for healthcare professionals.

However, clinical workplace trainings typically give little attention to religious factors, focusing instead on factors of racial perception, ethnicity, physical ability, and gender and sexuality. At most, healthcare systems currently educate their employees with checklists of religion-specific guidelines for provider-patient interactions. This approach provides little depth of cultural understanding of religion and worldview to improve patient experiences and care delivery. True cultural competence needs to account for religious diversity.

Radford University's minor in Religious-Cultural Literacy for Healthcare Professions addresses the knowledge-and-skill gap concerning religious differences by focusing on the healthcare sector in multiple religious, social, and cultural contexts. Through excellent educational experiences about religious diversity and healthcare, the RCL minor will improve your cultural competence as you prepare to enter the healthcare workforce. As a graduate of this program, you will begin your healthcare career with an enhanced understanding of religion's role in your patients' experiences and expectations of care, in your own experiences and expectations, and in religion's influence on the healthcare system overall.

The RCL minor educates future and current healthcare professionals in four key areas:

1. foundational information about religion and understandings of health; 
2. the relevance of religious information to healthcare and medicine; 
3. methods for interacting with diverse religious populations in clinical and administrative settings; and 
4. critical reflection on religion’s role in the organization, delivery, and management of healthcare.

To learn more about the RCL minor, get in touch with our department chair or visit us in CHBS 4202. 

The minor in Religious-Cultural Literacy for Healthcare Professions consists of 15 semester hours of courses as outlined below:

Foundation course (3 credits) 

Choose one of the following:

• RELN 112: Survey of World Religions, or 
• RELN 113: World Religions for Healthcare Professionals

Religion-and-Healthcare topics courses (9 credits) 

Complete these three courses:

• RELN 212: Historical Perspectives on Healthcare and Religion 
• RELN 213: Healthcare and the American Religious Landscape 
• RELN 381: Religion and Experiences of Death and Dying 

Capstone Course in Professional Field (3 credits) 

Choose an upper-level research courses in either Health Schiences or Religious Studies, or complete an Internship experience:

• HSCI 499: Health Sciences Topics; or 
• RELN 420 Religious Studies Topics (when topically appropriate); or 
• RELN 490: Internship.

Our religious studies faculty come from diverse backgrounds, have diverse interestes, and are internationally recognized in their areas of specialization.

• Dr. Geoffrey Pollick is an expert on American religion and culture. 
  
• Dr. Eric Rothgery's expertise focuses on Hinduism and Islam in India, specifically addressing healing rituals.
• Dr. Paul Thomas is an expert on the use and impact of religious texts.