Preparing Medical Students for Language-Congruent Healthcare at the U.S.-Mexico Border: Efficacy of a Spanish Curriculum

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Abstract

With a growing Hispanic population, provision of Spanish-language healthcare is critical. Although U.S. medical schools report medical Spanish programs, few meet basic curriculum or assessment standards. The Foster School of Medicine mandatory Spanish course includes pre-post language proficiency assessments and evaluation of learner’s confidence to use Spanish with patients. Pre-post assessments of Spanish proficiency indicated significant increases in scores across two cohorts of medical students. Analyses based on native language and proficiency level at course begin are provided. Examining changes in proficiency level groupings (beginner, intermediate, advanced) longitudinally, we found significant level increases in one cohort. Paired t-tests revealed significant increases in self-reported confidence to use Spanish with patients across cohorts. Findings have implications for language-congruent training in healthcare education.

Authors

• Christiane R. Herber-Valdez, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso

• Priya Harindranathan, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

• Gilberto Garcia, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso