Recently, whilst on my rural prac in India I learnt how much the concept of time differs between cultures. The concept of time in India is completely different to ours in Australia. Here if we say 9:00 we mean 9:00, in India 9:00 could mean 9:30, 10:00, maybe tomorrow. There appears to be a very relaxed attitude towards time, things get done, but very slowly.
This was a very difficult concept for me to adjust to whilst I was there, and at times caused many frustrations. There were many plans that in the end could not be completed due to the difference in concept of time. It made me realise how busy our lifestyles in Australia really are, which is probably why so many of us can not live without a diary, everything is timed down to the last minute. Private practice is a prime example of this, if one or two patients are just a few minutes late, this can put out your entire day.
After I let go of my frustrations, the more relaxed view of time was actually really enjoyable, and it was refreshing to not be in a hurry all the time. There are many things that I will take from this experience. Firstly, I think my new awareness of this cultural difference will help me to be more understanding when treating not only those from the Indian culture, but also from other cultures. Before jumping to conclusions about why they’ve done this or that, I feel like I will now be more considerate that it may just be a difference in the way there culture and my culture view things. It may be that neither one or the other is right, but they’re just different, when treating patients in a society that is so multi-cultural as Australia’s we need to be aware and accommodating to these differences. It’s one of those extra techniques that they can’t really teach us at uni but will make us much more well equipped physiotherapists.
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Hi, it should be a dramatic different between cultures. For me, my cultural background is different from aussie culture and it takes time for me to get used to it gradually, especially when I first started.
So as a health professional, we have to understand the cultural differences and adjust our treatment accordingly.
Yes, the concept of time certainly differs between cultures. I think you did well in just 'getting used to' the different context. I had a similar experience on my rural placement here in WA, where the majority of my patients were Indigenous. Appointments were considered to be 'am' or 'pm', and a patient could turn up at any time. Once you got used to the lifestyle and timeframes (and learnt to relax!) it was no problem, and I quite enjoyed a 'whatever goes' approach to the day.
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