Li Whitney, Wang Vicki, Jian Yuwen, Tiu Bryan-Clement Y, Chow Jacqueline J, Jiang Mio Cate, Zhang Catherine, Zhu Jenny, Lu Josephine, Unno Nobuyoshi, Huang Yun-San, Chow Emilie L
Third-Year Medical Student, University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine.
Second-Year Medical Student, University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine.
MedEdPORTAL. 2025 Jan 2;21:11484. doi: 10.15766/mep_2374-8265.11484. eCollection 2025.
In regions with significant Mandarin-speaking populations, language discordance in health care poses considerable challenges. Previous studies have shown that patients with language-concordant providers had higher ratings of satisfaction and trust. Despite this, there is a shortage of Mandarin-speaking primary care physicians in California. Thus, it is imperative for medical schools to offer education in medical Mandarin.
We implemented a medical Mandarin summer course at the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine. The course targeted medical students with existing Mandarin fluency and used a flipped classroom model, spanning three sessions focusing on medical history, symptomatology, and medical conditions. Sessions consisted of a 2-hour interactive Zoom class starting with an interactive presentation to practice Mandarin medical terminology and cultural competency learned at home. Students were then paired in breakout rooms to practice patient interviewing. Pre- and postcourse evaluations were given to assess language confidence (Likert scale) and competence (graded terminology exam).
Seventeen students participated in the course and had increased ratings in comfort in taking a medical history in Mandarin ( = .001) and cultural competency ( = .05), as well as increased exam scores ( =.01), when comparing pre- and postcourse evaluations.
Adding medical language training to existing medical school curricula can cultivate a more linguistically competent health care workforce, ultimately improving patient satisfaction and outcomes. This pilot course demonstrates a feasible approach to addressing linguistic diversity in health care and can be replicated at other institutions to train language-concordant physicians.
在有大量说普通话人群的地区，医疗保健中的语言不一致带来了相当大的挑战。先前的研究表明，拥有语言匹配的医疗服务提供者的患者满意度和信任度更高。尽管如此，加利福尼亚州说普通话的初级保健医生短缺。因此，医学院校开展医学普通话教育势在必行。
我们在加利福尼亚大学欧文分校医学院开设了一个医学普通话暑期课程。该课程针对已有普通话流利程度的医学生，采用翻转课堂模式，涵盖三个课程，分别聚焦病史、症状学和病症。课程包括一个2小时的互动式Zoom课堂，开始是一个互动式讲座，用于练习在家中学到的医学普通话术语和文化能力。然后学生们被分成小组讨论室练习患者问诊。课程前后都进行了评估，以评估语言信心（李克特量表）和能力（分级术语考试）。
17名学生参加了该课程，与课程前后评估相比，他们用普通话问诊的舒适度评分增加（ = .001）、文化能力评分增加（ = .05），考试成绩也有所提高（ =.01）。
在现有的医学院校课程中增加医学语言培训可以培养语言能力更强的医疗保健人员，最终提高患者满意度和治疗效果。这个试点课程展示了一种应对医疗保健中语言多样性的可行方法，并且可以在其他机构复制以培训语言匹配的医生。
