inPractice - Summer 2019 - 8

TEACHING
& LEARNING

FACULTY PROFILE

Photo by Eric Forberger

A Commitment to Cultural Competency
Lena Frennborn, Assistant Professor of
Sociology, learned a lot from her career as a
nurse midwife in her native Sweden. Two
lessons in particular have guided her
subsequent teaching and administrative
career at Pennsylvania College of Health
Sciences. One is the knowledge that she
didn't deliver the babies: She assisted the
mother in delivering her baby. The second
is that cultural competency and diversity are
critical in health care.
For the past nine years, Frennborn has
applied these lessons in her sociology and ethics
classes. "We are facilitators of students' learning,
as opposed to teaching them," she explains. Just
as she empowered women in labor to use their
resources, she views her role as a professor as
guiding her students.

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"I am able to draw from my background and
give our students a broader perspective in the
humanities and social sciences. Being culturally
competent enables you to provide quality care
for all your patients and improve outcomes."
Her passion for cultural diversity was sparked
when she made home visits to refugees newly
immigrated to Sweden. When her husband's
career took the family to the United States,
she enrolled in anthropology and sociology
courses at Virginia Commonwealth University,
earning a bachelor's and then a master's
degree. Her family's move to the Lancaster
area inspired a return to nursing and to
classes at PA College. Frennborn was quickly
selected by the College for the front of the
class, first as an adjunct professor in 2010,
then full time three years later.

Since January, her passion and expertise have
combined in a new position for the College:
Assistant Chair for Sciences and Humanities.
In that role, Frennborn helps hire and mentor
faculty members, oversees scheduling of
social sciences and humanities classes, and
assists with other daily administrative tasks.
"I like collaborating with faculty members
and supporting them and collaborating
outside of my department," she says. n
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inPractice - Summer 2019

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