It has great practical significance to research on how to make full use of the overseas programs. Short-term overseas study programs, a typical type of cultural education, have been regarded to be the most effective way to increase students’ cultural exposure and hence develop their ICC. To assist students’ future careers, universities provide cultural education for healthcare students to develop their ICC. Intercultural communication skills of health professionals can affect the quality of healthcare delivery and outcomes. Based on this model, ICC consists of four components, knowledge (K), attitude (A), skills (S), and awareness (A +). In the research of ICC, the KASA model has been widely used. Based on this comparison, ICC is more suitable in the present study. According to a classical comparison made by Lusting and Koester, “intercultural communication involves interactions among people from different cultures, whereas cross-cultural communication involves a comparison of interactions among people from the same culture to those from another culture”. Another synonymous is cross-cultural competence. Although each of these fields has developed its own definition and key terms, the underlying theories are quite similar. For example, research in the field of health utilises the term “cultural competence/competency”, whereas research within the field of business usually uses the term “cultural intelligence (CQ)”. Research in the field of education usually uses the short term “intercultural competence” to refer to intercultural communication competence, and there are several synonym terms in other fields. It has great significance to research on the development of ICC among healthcare professionals/students who need to encounter intercultural situations. However, interventions to improve communication skills should be considered in a social context with a potential danger of miscommunication, such as in a multicultural society and intercultural situations. In healthcare settings, the majority of patient adverse events have been caused by inappropriate communication. Intercultural communication competence (ICC) is an essential capability for health professionals, which has been defined as the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately in intercultural situations. It is concluded that open-mindedness trait is vital for increasing cultural immersion, and hence promote intercultural communication skills. They were willing to learn from peer fellows, and keen to embrace novel challenges. This trait enabled participants to be actively involved in the immersion in the local culture. Three themes emerging from the qualitative data indicated that the open-mindedness trait affected students’ cultural exposure. The correlational analysis showed that the open-mindedness trait was correlated with cultural skills, a component of intercultural communication competence, but not significant with the other three components. Half of the participants ( n = 16) were interviewed after the overseas trip. Questionnaires, which measured socio-demographic information, intercultural communication competence and open-mindedness trait were administered to the participants before and after their overseas trip. Thirty-two undergraduate healthcare students in Australia took part in the study. The present study adopted a mixed-method design to identify how open-mindedness trait affected this overseas learning process. However, the role that open-mindedness (i.e., a personality trait) can play in this process has not been explored. An opportunity to immerse in the new culture enables them to develop their ability to offer services to people from different countries. Overseas study trips can enhance healthcare students’ intercultural communication competence.
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