Student-led co-curricular medical Spanish training in a pharmacy professional program

This paper describes a student-led co-curricular training program to increase pharmacy student proficiency with medical Spanish terminology. Western University of Health Sciences (WesternU) pharmacy students frequently can interact with Spanish-speaking patients in experiential rotations. Moreover, the clear majority of program graduates remain in California, a state with a high Spanish-speaking population. Developing foundational knowledge of medical Spanish terminology can enhance communication with Spanish-speaking patients, who may have limited English proficiency and experience a lack of language concordance when interacting with the healthcare system. Providing training in medical terminology in another language is important because communication barriers have been associated with adverse medical outcomes, such as poor medication adherence.

The development of the training logistics and materials are described for replication of the process, whether with medical Spanish or other languages. Students in the pharmacy program developed the medical Spanish training that is now a robust co-curricular activity with over 100 students participating in the training each semester. An important aspect of the WesternU co-curricular activity is that students develop materials, create learning activities, and facilitate training.