Sbei Oase, Almansour Yasser, Sbei Belal, Sannah Yusra, Alabdelrazzak Mukhlis, Alqasmi Haytham, Abdalla Omar, Turfe Alexandra, Kutait Anas
Education, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, USA.
Medicine, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, East Lansing, USA.
Cureus. 2025 Jul 10;17(7):e87685. doi: 10.7759/cureus.87685. eCollection 2025 Jul.
Introduction While Wayne State University School of Medicine (WSUSOM) serves a large Arab-American patient population, medical students have limited opportunities for formal instruction in medical Arabic, which may hinder effective communication with Arabic-speaking patients. To address this gap, a series of medical Arabic workshops was implemented, focusing on medical terminology and patient interaction. This study evaluates the impact of these workshops on students' self-reported preparedness and confidence when interacting with Arabic-speaking patients. Notably, there is a lack of prior US-based studies examining the effectiveness of structured medical Arabic training for medical students, further underscoring the novelty and relevance of this research. Methods An anonymous survey was distributed to WSUSOM students who attended one or more medical Arabic workshops. The survey utilized a five-point Likert scale (1 = never, 5 = always) to assess domains such as communication confidence, comprehension preparedness, and perceived training utility. A total of 119 students completed the pre-workshop survey, and 110 completed the post-workshop survey. Unpaired t-tests were used to compare weighted averages across domains before and after the workshops, with p-values <0.05 considered significant. Results Participation in the medical Arabic workshops was associated with statistically significant improvements in students' confidence and preparedness when interacting with Arabic-speaking patients. Pre-workshop, the weighted average score for confidence in understanding Arabic in clinical settings was 2.18 (SD = 1.34), which increased to 3.14 (SD = 1.15) post-workshop (p < 0.0001). Similarly, students' confidence in communicating health information rose from an average of 2.10 (SD = 1.21) to 3.17 (SD = 1.09) after attending the workshops (p < 0.0001). Additionally, the proportion of students reporting regular use of Arabic in clinical encounters remained high, but post-workshop responses indicated a reduction in the frequency with which students needed clarification during patient interactions. Overall, the majority of participants agreed that the workshops enhanced their clinical skills and preparedness to serve Arabic-speaking patients. Conclusions Medical Arabic workshops effectively improved medical students' confidence and readiness to engage with Arabic-speaking patients. These findings suggest that targeted language and cultural competency training may enhance communication and clinical performance, and that integration of similar programs into the formal medical school curriculum could help address language barriers in patient care.
引言
虽然韦恩州立大学医学院（WSUSOM）服务于大量阿拉伯裔美国患者，但医学生接受医学阿拉伯语正规教学的机会有限，这可能会妨碍与讲阿拉伯语的患者进行有效沟通。为了弥补这一差距，开展了一系列医学阿拉伯语工作坊，重点关注医学术语和患者互动。本研究评估了这些工作坊对学生在与讲阿拉伯语的患者互动时自我报告的准备情况和信心的影响。值得注意的是，此前缺乏在美国进行的研究来考察针对医学生的结构化医学阿拉伯语培训的有效性，这进一步凸显了本研究的新颖性和相关性。
方法
向参加过一个或多个医学阿拉伯语工作坊的WSUSOM学生发放了一份匿名调查问卷。该调查采用五点李克特量表（1 = 从不，5 = 总是）来评估沟通信心、理解准备情况和感知培训效用等领域。共有119名学生完成了工作坊前的调查，110名学生完成了工作坊后的调查。使用非配对t检验来比较工作坊前后各领域的加权平均值，p值<0.05被认为具有统计学意义。
结果
参加医学阿拉伯语工作坊与学生在与讲阿拉伯语的患者互动时的信心和准备情况在统计学上有显著改善相关。工作坊前，在临床环境中理解阿拉伯语的信心加权平均分为2.18（标准差 = 1.34），工作坊后增至3.14（标准差 = 1.15）（p < 0.0001）。同样，参加工作坊后，学生传达健康信息的信心从平均2.10（标准差 = 1.21）提高到3.17（标准差 = 1.09）（p < 0.0001）。此外，报告在临床接触中经常使用阿拉伯语的学生比例仍然很高，但工作坊后的反馈表明，学生在患者互动中需要澄清的频率有所降低。总体而言，大多数参与者认为这些工作坊提高了他们的临床技能和为讲阿拉伯语的患者服务的准备情况。
结论
医学阿拉伯语工作坊有效地提高了医学生与讲阿拉伯语的患者互动的信心和准备程度。这些发现表明，有针对性的语言和文化能力培训可能会提高沟通和临床表现，并且将类似项目纳入正规医学院课程有助于解决患者护理中的语言障碍。
