Department of Medicine, Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Biological Sciences Learning Center, Suite 104, 924 East 57th St., Chicago, IL, 60637, USA.
J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2016 Jun;3(2):245-9. doi: 10.1007/s40615-015-0134-7. Epub 2015 May 28.
Language concordance between patient and provider has been shown to improve health outcomes for Limited English Proficiency (LEP) patients. However, health care teams often use available ad hoc interpreters without knowing whether their language skills are adequate. Little is known about the role of medical students working as ad hoc interpreters.
Bilingual medical students are engaged as interpreters in the care of LEP patients and may serve as a potential resource for health care teams caring for LEP patients.
We conducted a multi-institutional online survey of graduating medical students at the University of Illinois and the University of Chicago in 2011 and 2012, containing both qualitative and quantitative questions regarding their experiences as interpreters for LEP patients.
Half (216/430) of contacted students completed the survey; 40 % (87/216) of responding students reported being bilingual. Of these students, the vast majority, 84 % (73/87), had been asked to interpret for patients in the clinical setting. Only 12 % (10/87) of students reported having felt uncomfortable interpreting for patients "often" or "very often." Over half (53 %, 46/87) described incidents during which they felt uncomfortable interpreting. Seventeen (17/46, 37 %) students described those incidents as high-stakes clinical settings.
Medical schools and health care institutions should establish guidelines for students who identify as fluent in another language and are interested in interpreting for LEP patients in clinical settings, to protect both students and patients when language poses a barrier to quality care.
患者与提供者之间的语言一致性已被证明可以改善英语水平有限（LEP）患者的健康结果。然而，医疗团队在不知道其语言技能是否足够的情况下，经常使用现有的临时口译员。关于作为临时口译员工作的医学生的作用知之甚少。
双语医学生作为口译员参与照顾 LEP 患者，并且可能成为照顾 LEP 患者的医疗团队的潜在资源。
我们于 2011 年和 2012 年在伊利诺伊大学和芝加哥大学对即将毕业的医学生进行了一项多机构在线调查，其中包含有关他们作为 LEP 患者口译员的经验的定性和定量问题。
联系到的学生中有一半（216/430）完成了调查；40%（87/216）的回应学生报告自己是双语的。在这些学生中，绝大多数（84%，73/87）被要求在临床环境中为患者进行口译。只有 12%（10/87）的学生报告经常或非常经常为患者口译感到不舒服。超过一半（53%，46/87）的学生描述了在口译时感到不舒服的情况。17 名学生（17/46，37%）描述了这些情况是高风险的临床环境。
医学院和医疗机构应为自认为流利掌握另一种语言并对在临床环境中为 LEP 患者进行口译感兴趣的学生制定准则，以在语言成为优质护理障碍时保护学生和患者。
