Development of a Medical Spanish Curriculum for Fourth-Year Medical Students

The US Latino population is projected to double over the next 50 years while the proportion of Latino physicians is expected to decrease over the same interval. Spanish curricula within medical schools are common but rarely assess learners for proficiency and are often not incentivized. Family physicians are well positioned to promote the effective delivery of culturally and linguistically appropriate care to Latino patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). Our aim was to develop a replicable, incentivized, medical Spanish curriculum to promote fluency.

We developed a peer-taught, interactive, case-based medical Spanish curriculum for fourth-year medical students at a single medical school. All fourth-year medical students were eligible to enroll. Seventeen students completed pre- and postintervention questionnaires to rate their self-efficacy in medical Spanish comprehension and vocabulary. At the end of the course, students were also assessed for oral Spanish language skills by a standardized patient (SP).

Students rated themselves as having improved at completing nearly all components of the medical interview and physical in Spanish after completing the course (15/16 tasks, P<0.001).

This peer-led medical Spanish course shows promise as a feasible and sustainable curriculum for teaching medical Spanish and assessing fluency among fourth-year medical students. Establishing a cohort of peers as teachers addresses concerns about cost and reduces the need for faculty support.