Department of Medical Education, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
J Gen Intern Med. 2021 Sep;36(9):2724-2730. doi: 10.1007/s11606-021-06735-3. Epub 2021 Mar 29.
Most medical schools offer medical Spanish education to teach patient-physician communication skills with the growing Spanish-speaking population. Medical Spanish courses that lack basic standards of curricular structure, faculty educators, learner assessment, and institutional credit may increase student confidence without sufficiently improving skills, inadvertently exacerbating communication problems with linguistic minority patients.
To conduct a national environmental scan of US medical schools' medical Spanish educational efforts, examine to what extent existing efforts meet basic standards, and identify next steps in improving the quality of medical Spanish education.
Data were collected from March to November 2019 using an IRB-exempt online 6-item primary and 14-item secondary survey.
All deans of the Association of American Medical Colleges member US medical schools were invited to complete the primary survey. If a medical Spanish educator or leader was identified, that person was sent the secondary survey.
The presence of medical Spanish educational programs and, when present, whether the programs met four basic standards: formal curricular structure, faculty educator, learner assessment, and course credit.
Seventy-nine percent of medical schools (125 out of 158) responded to either or both the primary and/or secondary surveys. Among participating schools, 78% (98/125) of medical schools offered medical Spanish programming; of those, 21% (21/98) met all basic standards. Likelihood of meeting all basic standards did not significantly differ by location, school size, or funding type. Fifty-four percent (53/98) report formal medical Spanish curricula, 69% (68/98) have faculty instructors, 57% (56/98) include post-course assessment, and 31% (30/98) provide course credit.
Recommended next steps for medical schools include formalizing medical Spanish courses as electives or required curricula; hiring and/or training faculty educators; incorporating learner assessment; and granting credit for student course completion. Future studies should evaluate implementation strategies to establish best practice recommendations beyond basic standards.
为了教授医患沟通技巧，满足西班牙语裔患者数量的增长需求，大多数医学院都开设了医学西班牙语课程。然而，一些医学西班牙语课程缺乏基本的课程结构、教师教育者、学习者评估和机构学分等标准，这可能会增加学生的信心，但并不能充分提高他们的技能，无意中加剧了与语言少数族裔患者的沟通问题。
对美国医学院的医学西班牙语教育工作进行全国范围的环境扫描，考察现有工作在多大程度上达到了基本标准，并确定提高医学西班牙语教育质量的下一步措施。
数据收集于 2019 年 3 月至 11 月，采用 IRB 豁免的在线 6 项主要和 14 项次要调查。
邀请美国医学协会成员的所有医学院院长完成主要调查。如果确定了医学西班牙语教育者或领导者，就会向其发送次要调查。
是否存在医学西班牙语教育项目，以及如果存在，该项目是否符合四个基本标准：正式的课程结构、教师教育者、学习者评估和课程学分。
79%的医学院（158 所中的 125 所）对主要和/或次要调查做出了回应。在参与的学校中，78%（98/125）的医学院提供医学西班牙语课程；其中，21%（21/98）符合所有基本标准。符合所有基本标准的可能性与地理位置、学校规模或资金类型无关。54%（53/98）报告有正式的医学西班牙语课程，69%（68/98）有教师指导，57%（56/98）包括课程结束后的评估，31%（30/98）提供课程学分。
医学院的下一步建议包括将医学西班牙语课程正式列为选修或必修课程；聘请和/或培训教师教育者；纳入学习者评估；并为学生完成课程提供学分。未来的研究应该评估实施策略，以建立超越基本标准的最佳实践建议。
