A longitudinal medical Spanish program at one US medical school.
BACKGROUND
Policymakers have recommended recruiting or training (or both) more US physicians who can provide care in Spanish. Few longitudinal medical Spanish programs have been described and evaluated.


OBJECTIVE
This study aims to describe development and evaluation of the preclinical phase of a 4-y program designed to graduate physicians who can provide language-concordant care in Spanish.


METHODS
Study was done in one public medical school in southeastern USA.


METHODS
The program targeted intermediate/advanced Spanish speakers. Standardized fluency assessments were used to determine eligibility and evaluate participants' progress. Curriculum included didactic coursework, simulated patients, socio-cultural seminars, clinical skills rotations at sites serving Latinos, service-learning, and international immersion.


RESULTS
For the first two cohorts (n = 45) qualitative evaluation identified program improvement opportunities and found participants believed the program helped them maintain their Spanish skills. Mean interim (2-y) speaking proficiency scores were unchanged from baseline: 9.0 versus 8.7 at baseline on 12-point scale (p = 0.15). Mean interim listening comprehension scores (second cohort only, n = 25) increased from a baseline of 77 to 86% (p = 0.003). Proportions "passing" the listening comprehension test increased from 72 to 92% (p = 0.06).


CONCLUSIONS
We describe development of a longitudinal Spanish program within a medical school. Participation was associated with improved Spanish listening comprehension and no change in speaking proficiency.
Reuland
Daniel S
DS
Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. dreuland@med.unc.edu
Frasier
Pamela Y
PY
Slatt
Lisa M
LM
Alemán
Marco A
MA
D003142:Communication; D003144:Communication Barriers; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D014481:United States