Abstract
BackgroundHumanistic care in medicine has shown to improve healthcare outcomes. Language barriers are a significant obstacle to humanistic care, and trained medical interpreters have demonstrated to effectively bridge the gap for the vulnerable limited English proficiency (LEP) patient population. One way in which medical schools can train more humanistic physicians and provide language access is through the implementation of programs to train bilingual medical students as medical interpreters. The purpose of this prospective study was to evaluate whether such training had an impact on bilingual medical student’s interpretation skills and humanistic traits.MethodsBetween 2015 and 2017, whole-day (~ 8 h) workshops on medical interpretation were offered periodically to 80 bilingual medical students at the Penn State College of Medicine. Students completed a series of questionnaires before and after the training that assessed the program’s effectiveness and its overall impact on interpretation skills and humanistic traits. Students also had the opportunity to become certified medical interpreters.ResultsThe 80 student participants were first- to third- year medical students representing 21 languages. Following training, most students felt more confident interpreting (98%) and more empathetic towards LEP patients (87.5%). Students’ scores in the multiple-choice questions about medical interpretation/role of the interpreter were also significantly improved (Chi-Square test, p < 0.05). All students who decided to take the exam were able to successfully become certified interpreters. Ninety-two percent of participants reported they would recommend the program and would be willing to serve as a future “coaches” for interpreter training workshops delivered to peer students.ConclusionsOur program was successful in increasing self-reported measures of empathy and humanism in medical students. Our data suggests that implementation of medical interpreter training programs can be a successful strategy to develop of humanism in medical students, and aid in the development of sustainable language access for LEP patients.
Highlights
Humanistic care in medicine has shown to improve healthcare outcomes
It is imperative that medical education curriculum provide students with activities that will aid in preservation of empathy and humanism, and increase cultural competency, while preparing future physicians for understanding social, economic, and cultural factors that may affect the quality of the care they will provide
We aimed to address this gap by implementing a medical interpretation skills training program tailored for medical students that included the core components of the interpretation process from traditional programs, combined with practice hours in simulated scenarios
Summary
Humanistic care in medicine has shown to improve healthcare outcomes. One way in which medical schools can train more humanistic physicians and provide language access is through the implementation of programs to train bilingual medical students as medical interpreters. Gold Foundation, is characterized by a respectful and compassionate relationship between the healthcare team and patients [1] It reflects attitudes and behaviors of the team members that are sensitive to the values and the cultural and ethnic backgrounds of others [2, 3]. Research has shown that when physicians provide humanistic care, patients are more likely to adhere to medical advice and treatment options, resulting in improved health outcomes [4]. It is imperative that medical education curriculum provide students with activities that will aid in preservation of empathy and humanism, and increase cultural competency, while preparing future physicians for understanding social, economic, and cultural factors that may affect the quality of the care they will provide
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