A Multidisciplinary Approach: Teaching Medical Spanish to Medical Students Using Role-play

Introduction The Hispanic community is the most rapidly growing minority group in the United States, making up 18.1% of the population, with 40% reporting limited English proficiency. To address this need, many health sciences institutions have implemented medical Spanish courses to increase Spanish proficiency among future healthcare providers. Although interactive courses have shown efficacy in teaching field-related terminology, barriers to medical Spanish curriculum implementation persist. Our study investigated the benefit of role-play, an underutilized teaching modality, in a medical Spanish course. Methods 19 second year medical students were recruited to participate. Based on their placement test performance, students were assigned to a beginner or intermediate group and met weekly for one-hour sessions over five consecutive weeks. Students assumed the roles of Spanish-speaking patient, English-speaking provider, and interpreter to practice various medical scenarios. Students completed pre- and post-course examinations to assess Spanish proficiency improvement. Statistical significance was determined using a p -value < 0.05. Results Seven students, all members of the intermediate group, completed the course. Attendance among this group was 77.4%. When comparing examination scores, there was statistically significant improvement in oral translation of phrases from Spanish to English ( p -value= 0.03). Discussion Statistically significant improvement in oral translation of phrases from Spanish to English was accomplished through a minimal time requirement of one hour per week utilizing role-play. Given the fact that limited time poses a barrier to implementing medical Spanish curricula, our findings highlight the potential benefit of this teaching methodology and call for further evaluation.