A Standardized Clinical Case-Based Assessment for Evaluating Medical Students' Oral Spanish Communication Skills

Few standardized assessments exist for evaluating medical students' oral Spanish communication with patients. Educators in Medical Spanish need practical, accessible tools. We designed and implemented a standardized clinical case-based assessment to evaluate students' oral Spanish communication skills upon course conclusion.

The students enrolled in the Intermediate and Advanced Medical Spanish courses during the Fall 2021 term were included. Students participated in a standardized clinical case-based assessment with a standardized patient. The students' performance was evaluated using scoring of a binary checklist focused on 20 key components of the medical interview in Spanish, and 2 formative feedback items about their Spanish language skills.

Twenty-eight students participated in the educational activity, including 13 from the Intermediate and 15 from the Advanced Medical Spanish courses. Of the participants, 43% (n = 12) were female, 89% (n = 25) were medical students and 11% (n = 3) were dental students, and 78% (n = 22) were first-year students at Harvard Medical School. Overall, students in both the Intermediate and Advanced levels achieved high aggregate performance scores, at or above 80%. Mean scores differed between the two groups (p = .0001).

The standardized clinical case-based assessment effectively evaluated students' communication skills upon completing the longitudinal Medical Spanish course. It helped students ask key medical history questions in Spanish. Our curriculum offers a standardized patient case as a model for other instructors to assess oral medical Spanish communication skills.