A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH: TEACHING MEDICAL SPANISH TO MEDICAL STUDENTS USING ROLE-PLAY

Abstract

The Hispanic community is the most rapidly growing minority group in the United States, making up 18.3% of the population, with 40% reporting limited English proficiency. To address this need, many health sciences institutions have implemented medical Spanish courses to increase Spanish proficiency among future health care providers. Although interactive courses have shown efficacy in teaching field-related terminology, barriers to medical Spanish curriculum implementation persist. Our non-randomized experimental pilot study aims to investigate the benefit of role-play in a medical Spanish course. Nineteen second-year medical students were recruited to participate. Based on their placement test performance, students were assigned to a beginner or intermediate group, and met weekly for one-hour sessions over five consecutive weeks. Students assumed the roles of Spanish-speaking patient, English-speaking provider, and interpreter to practice various medical scenarios. Students completed pre- and post-course examinations to assess Spanish proficiency improvement. A p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Seven students, all members of the intermediate group, completed the course. Class attendance among this group was 77.4%. When comparing examination scores, there was statistically significant improvement in oral translation of phrases from Spanish to English (p=0.03).Statistically significant improvement in oral translation of phrases from Spanish to English was accomplished through a minimal time requirement of one hour per week utilizing role-play. Given that limited time poses a barrier to implementing medical Spanish curricula, our findings highlight the potential benefit of this teaching methodology with a special emphasis on the under-utilized yet promising modality of role-play and call for its further evaluation.Furthermore, our study demonstrates the necessity of implementing medical Spanish course as an accredited class in medical schools to encourage student participation, which would provide legitimacy to the curriculum as the need for Spanish-speaking doctors increases with the rising Hispanic population in the US.

Keywords

• medical spanish
• medical education
• role-play
• medical school curriculum
• medical student