Journal article
Medical Spanish in US Medical Schools: a National Survey to Examine Existing Programs
Journal of general internal medicine : JGIM, v 36(9), pp 2724-2730
01 Sep 2021
PMID: 33782890
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Background Most medical schools offer medical Spanish education to teach patient-physician communication skills with the growing Spanish-speaking population. Medical Spanish courses that lack basic standards of curricular structure, faculty educators, learner assessment, and institutional credit may increase student confidence without sufficiently improving skills, inadvertently exacerbating communication problems with linguistic minority patients. Objective To conduct a national environmental scan of US medical schools' medical Spanish educational efforts, examine to what extent existing efforts meet basic standards, and identify next steps in improving the quality of medical Spanish education. Design Data were collected from March to November 2019 using an IRB-exempt online 6-item primary and 14-item secondary survey. Participants All deans of the Association of American Medical Colleges member US medical schools were invited to complete the primary survey. If a medical Spanish educator or leader was identified, that person was sent the secondary survey. Main Measures The presence of medical Spanish educational programs and, when present, whether the programs met four basic standards: formal curricular structure, faculty educator, learner assessment, and course credit. Key Results Seventy-nine percent of medical schools (125 out of 158) responded to either or both the primary and/or secondary surveys. Among participating schools, 78% (98/125) of medical schools offered medical Spanish programming; of those, 21% (21/98) met all basic standards. Likelihood of meeting all basic standards did not significantly differ by location, school size, or funding type. Fifty-four percent (53/98) report formal medical Spanish curricula, 69% (68/98) have faculty instructors, 57% (56/98) include post-course assessment, and 31% (30/98) provide course credit. Conclusions Recommended next steps for medical schools include formalizing medical Spanish courses as electives or required curricula; hiring and/or training faculty educators; incorporating learner assessment; and granting credit for student course completion. Future studies should evaluate implementation strategies to establish best practice recommendations beyond basic standards.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- Medical Spanish in US Medical Schools: a National Survey to Examine Existing Programs
- Creators
- Pilar Ortega - Illinois CollegeNicolas O. Francone - Northwestern UniversityMaria Paola Santos - University of Michigan–Ann ArborJorge A. Girotti - Illinois CollegeTiffany M. Shin - Wake Forest UniversityNielufar Varjavand - Office of EducationYoon Soo Park - Massachusetts General Hospital
- Publication Details
- Journal of general internal medicine : JGIM, v 36(9), pp 2724-2730
- Publisher
- Springer Nature
- Number of pages
- 7
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- MD (Doctor of Medicine) Program
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000634645900002
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85103412871
- Other Identifier
- 991019167721804721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Health Care Sciences & Services