About the Clinical Medical Spanish Track
Monolingual Spanish speakers in the United States comprise a significant and growing population. There is a need for physicians who are able to effectively communicate with these patients and provide safe and effective medical care.
The Clinical Medical Spanish (CMS) longitudinal academic track comprises a comprehensive program of instructor-led classroom lessons and language practice workshops, standardized patient encounters, research activities and presentations on relevant cultural and medical issues impacting the Latino community, as well as clinical, research, and community engagement and immersive experiences.
Together, these components will help develop language skills to perform patient interviews entirely in Spanish, including discussion of common diagnoses, acquiring procedural consent, and creating management/treatment plans, while gaining an enhanced cultural sensitivity towards these patients and learning fundamental strategies towards continuous self-assessment.
Medical Spanish at Georgetown University School of Medicine has had a robust presence over the years. Dr. Rodriguez, Dr. Luis Henriquez, Dr. Milos Tomovic and Dr. Gonzalez-Calvo (GUSOM graduates) created the Medical Spanish Initiative (MSI) Pilot Program in 2019, which was tailored for the first year of GU medical school, included the fundamental tenets established and reported by the National Association of Medical Spanish, and has IRB approval. It has been run with the help and effort of many M1 and M2 student leaders over the years and was offered most recently as a GUSOM student club. The program has matured and been refined repeatedly to the point where it has become worthy of running as a longitudinal scholarly track.
Track Goal
The goal of the Clinical Medical Spanish Track is to increase the Spanish language proficiency and cultural competency of medical students at Georgetown University School of Medicine, primarily during interviews, examination and patient education. This will ultimately empower them to better serve English-limited patients with high quality, patient-centered care by fostering effective communication, cultural understanding and a commitment to health equity.
Track Objectives & Competencies
The CMS track will:
- Enhance communication skills: Medical students will learn how to effectively communicate with Spanish-speaking patients. Students with a preexisting foundation in basic/conversational Spanish will be trained to perform each step of the patient visit in Spanish. This includes obtaining a full medical history, performing a physical exam, explaining the assessment and medical plan, and comfortably educating patients.
- Promote cultural competency: To educate medical students about the specific health issues affecting Spanish-speaking patients in the U.S., particularly concerning social, economic, and cultural factors unique to the Hispanic/Latino community. In doing so, these future physicians will be better prepared to provide appropriate and empathetic care.
- Improve patient care and safety: In addition to language concordance, effective communication with patients involves building patient trust, which in turn, enhances patient adherence to the management and treatment plan, reduces the risk of miscommunication, promotes health literacy and empowers patients to take an active role in their care.
- Foster professionalism and advocacy: Gaining cultural awareness and communication skills allows the physician to understand the patient in her(his) whole dimension by respecting cultural diversity, understanding cultural norms and values. This understanding informs the physician as to how to address health disparities and promote equitable healthcare.
Curriculum Overview
During the preclinical years, the CMS track consists of lessons, workshops and standardized patient encounters in Medical Spanish and relevant cultural topics. Medical Spanish lessons focus on specific organ systems that parallel the topics covered in the GUSOM standard curriculum.
The program in the clinical years also includes lectures, workshops and chats. However, the topics covered in this phase are more tailored to the specific clinical needs of the students. Note: The scheduling, communication, evaluations and statistics will be performed by student leaders.
M1 Year
- Medical Spanish lectures (virtual and interactive) review anatomy, history of the present illness, corresponding and relevant physical examination, diagnostic studies, management plan and common medications.
- Independent study hours between MS workshops: MS study & exercises, case write ups and cultural study.
- Medical Spanish language practice workshops: the concepts from the lectures are put into practice through large group discussions, small group practice exercises, role-play activities and case write ups for which students will receive in-class feedback.
- Cultural competency lectures (virtual): will cover issues related to the MS lectures as well as problems that are particularly relevant to the Latino community in the U.S.
- First standardized patient (SP) encounter
Summer following M1
- Summer immersive experience: Identify and participate in community, clinical, and/or research opportunities to engage with Spanish-speaking patients and/or to study issues that affect the U.S. Latino community.
- Presentation on the immersive experience.
- Capstone Project topic selection: The topic selected may or may not be related to the M1 Summer immersive experience; the project can focus on basic, clinical or community research, community quality of life improvements, etc. At this point, the project mentor must be selected and the Capstone Project proposal generated.
M2 Year
- Medical Spanish lectures
- Independent study
- Medical Spanish workshops
- Cultural competency lectures
- Second SP encounter
- Volunteering in medical/clinical immersive opportunity: at least 10 hours must be completed by the end of M2Y (e.g., HOYA Clinic, Arlington Free Clinic, etc.).
- Capstone Project check-in
- Journeys I:
- Session 1: Lecture on a health disparities topic affecting the U.S. Latino population; selection by the students of a health disparities topic
- Session 2: Presentation on the health disparities topic
- Session 3: Medical Spanish workshop
- Session 4: A day in a patient’s life; create a roadmap for a patient’s holistic health management plan
M3 Year
- MS lectures and workshops tailored to the specific clinical needs of the students (in subgroups).
- Coffee chats (in person or virtual) for informal unstructured speaking in Spanish.
- Journeys II: Work on Capstone Project, finish data acquisition, perform analysis and statistics, begin abstract, poster and manuscript generation process.
M4 Year
- MS lectures and workshops tailored to the specific clinical needs of the students (in subgroups).
- Coffee chats (in person or virtual) for informal unstructured speaking Spanish.
- Presentation of Capstone Projects (ISP Research Day) or participation in immersive medical experiences.
- Third SP encounter
- Away rotations (immersive medical experiences; international electives, etc.)
Program Components & Requirements
Track Prerequisites
Prerequisites include having a conversational Spanish level of approximately “Fair” or above as assessed by:
- A Georgetown University Spanish placement test and
- A self-assessment based on the following chart
Time Commitment
The course time commitment varies according to the academic year:
- Lectures & conferences (virtual 1 hour) / workshops (in person 1.5 hours): ~15 hours
- Independent study hours: 12 hours
- Projects and immersive experiences: varies
Time Commitment Breakdown:
Capstone Project
The goal of the Capstone Project is for the medical students to gain a deeper understanding of issues that affect the health and welfare of the Latino community in the U.S. It may entail a basic, clinical or community research project focused on Latino health, advancement of Medical Spanish teaching techniques, enhancement of health literacy in the Latino community, an advocacy project addressing health disparities, community quality of life improvement projects, etc. The Capstone Project must be approved by the CMS track faculty and project mentors. It will be presented as a poster during ISP research day and/or in a national conference.
Mentorship
Students will have free rein to identify project mentors, preferably from the Georgetown University pool. They may also select mentors from other institutions. If necessary, the CMS track faculty will assist in finding appropriate and willing mentors. All mentors will be vetted by the CMS track faculty.
Regular project meetings with mentors, followed by check-ins with CMS track faculty, will be scheduled to help keep students on track for timely completion of the Capstone Project.
Leadership Opportunities
A Medical Spanish Track student leadership team will be created in order to assist with the execution of the track program. Members will work on communications, operations, statistics/assessments and clinical experiences.
Students will also gain leadership skills as they take complete ownership of their projects, including conception, selection of a mentor and initiative spearheading the entire process through completion.
Assessment
It is critical that evidence-based basic standardized assessments are used in order to ensure students employ well-accepted best practices to communicate with their patients and are aware of their limitations in doing so. The assessments performed will follow the recommended standards proposed by the National Association for Medical Spanish.
Assessment of the students’ gains in Medical Spanish and cultural competencies will enable them to understand their proficiencies and limitations so that they may seek targeted improvement as needed, in order to effectively and safely communicate with their patients.
Core elements of assessment include:
- Pre-track survey and post-track survey
- Mid-track evaluation: Two preclinical SP encounters
- Final evaluation: One clinical SP encounter
- Capstone Project presentation
Track Directors & Contact Information
Faculty Director
Olga Rodriguez MD, PhD
Department of Oncology
rodriguo@georgetown.edu
Office: 202-607-4628
Cell: 202-360-8388
Administrative Contact
Olga Rodriguez MD, PhD
Inochi Gonzalez Calvo MD