Simon Lisa, Hum Lauren, Nalliah Romesh
Dr. Simon is Instructor in Oral Health Policy and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Dental Medicine; Ms. Hum is a Class of 2016 DMD student, Harvard School of Dental Medicine; and Dr. Nalliah is Director of Clinical Education, University of Michigan School of Dentistry and an MS candidate, Harvard School of Public Health.
J Dent Educ. 2016 Jan;80(1):51-7.
The number of Americans with limited English proficiency (LEP) is growing, and legal protections mandate that LEP individuals have equal access to health care services. The aim of this study was to determine the availability of interpretation services in U.S. dental school clinics and the kinds of instruction dental students are given regarding treatment of LEP patients. A survey was distributed to the academic deans of all U.S. dental schools; 35 completed the survey for a response rate of 58%. Respondents were asked to report on the number of LEP patients treated in their student clinics, the resources available to students working with LEP patients, and the extent of instruction offered. Descriptive statistics were calculated. The results indicated that the proportion of LEP patients treated at U.S. dental schools was perceived to be higher than that of the general population. The availability of interpreter services and the extent of student education about LEP individuals varied widely. Among the responding schools, the most common language spoken by LEP patients was Spanish, followed by Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese) and Russian. Most of the responding dental schools reported offering fewer than two hours of instruction to their predoctoral students on treating LEP patients. Although almost 90% of the respondents indicated believing LEP patients received care equal in quality to that of non-LEP patients in their clinics, only 61.9% indicated that their students were adequately prepared to manage LEP patients following graduation. These findings suggest that dental schools should consider curricular innovations that will prepare students to work with LEP populations and improve the ability of LEP patients to receive care in the teaching clinic setting.
英语水平有限（LEP）的美国人数量正在增加，法律保护规定LEP个体应享有平等的医疗服务获取权。本研究的目的是确定美国牙科学院诊所口译服务的可获得性以及牙科学生接受的关于治疗LEP患者的指导类型。向所有美国牙科学院的学术院长发放了一份调查问卷；35人完成了调查，回复率为58%。受访者被要求报告其学生诊所治疗的LEP患者数量、为治疗LEP患者的学生提供的可用资源以及所提供指导的程度。计算了描述性统计数据。结果表明，美国牙科学院治疗的LEP患者比例被认为高于普通人群。口译服务的可获得性以及学生对LEP个体的教育程度差异很大。在回复的学校中，LEP患者最常说的语言是西班牙语，其次是中文（普通话和粤语）和俄语。大多数回复的牙科学院报告称，为其博士前学生提供的关于治疗LEP患者的指导时间少于两小时。尽管近90%的受访者表示认为LEP患者在其诊所接受的护理质量与非LEP患者相当，但只有61.9%的受访者表示他们的学生毕业后有足够的准备来管理LEP患者。这些发现表明，牙科学院应考虑课程创新，以使学生有能力与LEP人群合作，并提高LEP患者在教学诊所环境中接受护理的能力。
