Professional language use by alumni of the Harvard Medical School Medical Language Program
Abstract Background Despite the growing number of patients with limited English proficiency in the United States, not all medical schools offer medical language courses to train future physicians in practicing language-concordant care. Little is known about the long-term use of non-English languages...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2020-11-01
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| Series: | BMC Medical Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12909-020-02323-x |
| _version_ | 1811292291054174208 |
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| author | Joseph A. Pereira Kari Hannibal Jasmine Stecker Jennifer Kasper Jeffrey N. Katz Rose L. Molina |
| author_facet | Joseph A. Pereira Kari Hannibal Jasmine Stecker Jennifer Kasper Jeffrey N. Katz Rose L. Molina |
| author_sort | Joseph A. Pereira |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Despite the growing number of patients with limited English proficiency in the United States, not all medical schools offer medical language courses to train future physicians in practicing language-concordant care. Little is known about the long-term use of non-English languages among physicians who took language courses in medical school. We conducted a cross-sectional study to characterize the professional language use of Harvard Medical School (HMS) alumni who took a medical language course at HMS and identify opportunities to improve the HMS Medical Language Program. Methods Between October and November 2019, we sent an electronic survey to 803 HMS alumni who took a medical language course at HMS between 1991 and 2019 and collected responses. The survey had questions about the language courses and language use in the professional setting. We analyzed the data using descriptive statistics and McNemar’s test for comparing proportions with paired data. The study was determined not to constitute human subjects research. Results The response rate was 26% (206/803). More than half of respondents (n = 118, 57%) cited their desire to use the language in their future careers as the motivation for taking the language courses. Twenty-eight (14%) respondents indicated a change from not proficient before taking the course to proficient at the time of survey whereas only one (0.5%) respondent changed from proficient to not proficient (McNemar’s p-value < 0.0001). Respondents (n = 113, 56%) reported that clinical electives abroad influenced their cultural understanding of the local in-country population and their language proficiency. Only 13% (n = 27) of respondents have worked in a setting that required formal assessments of non-English language proficiency. Conclusions HMS alumni of the Medical Language Program reported improved language proficiency after the medical language courses’ conclusion, suggesting that the courses may catalyze long-term language learning. We found that a majority of respondents reported that the medical language courses influenced their desire to work with individuals who spoke the language of the courses they took. Medical language courses may equip physicians to practice language-concordant care in their careers. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T04:43:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4cdcc4b2fbd04ebcba698e1f621b07fb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1472-6920 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T04:43:13Z |
| publishDate | 2020-11-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Medical Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-4cdcc4b2fbd04ebcba698e1f621b07fb2022-12-22T03:01:55ZengBMCBMC Medical Education1472-69202020-11-0120111110.1186/s12909-020-02323-xProfessional language use by alumni of the Harvard Medical School Medical Language ProgramJoseph A. Pereira0Kari Hannibal1Jasmine Stecker2Jennifer Kasper3Jeffrey N. Katz4Rose L. Molina5Harvard Medical SchoolHarvard Medical SchoolHarvard Medical SchoolDepartment of Pediatrics and Global Health and Social Medicinem, Brigham and Women’s HospitalDepartment of Medicine and Orthopedic Surgery, Brigham and Women’s HospitalDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical CenterAbstract Background Despite the growing number of patients with limited English proficiency in the United States, not all medical schools offer medical language courses to train future physicians in practicing language-concordant care. Little is known about the long-term use of non-English languages among physicians who took language courses in medical school. We conducted a cross-sectional study to characterize the professional language use of Harvard Medical School (HMS) alumni who took a medical language course at HMS and identify opportunities to improve the HMS Medical Language Program. Methods Between October and November 2019, we sent an electronic survey to 803 HMS alumni who took a medical language course at HMS between 1991 and 2019 and collected responses. The survey had questions about the language courses and language use in the professional setting. We analyzed the data using descriptive statistics and McNemar’s test for comparing proportions with paired data. The study was determined not to constitute human subjects research. Results The response rate was 26% (206/803). More than half of respondents (n = 118, 57%) cited their desire to use the language in their future careers as the motivation for taking the language courses. Twenty-eight (14%) respondents indicated a change from not proficient before taking the course to proficient at the time of survey whereas only one (0.5%) respondent changed from proficient to not proficient (McNemar’s p-value < 0.0001). Respondents (n = 113, 56%) reported that clinical electives abroad influenced their cultural understanding of the local in-country population and their language proficiency. Only 13% (n = 27) of respondents have worked in a setting that required formal assessments of non-English language proficiency. Conclusions HMS alumni of the Medical Language Program reported improved language proficiency after the medical language courses’ conclusion, suggesting that the courses may catalyze long-term language learning. We found that a majority of respondents reported that the medical language courses influenced their desire to work with individuals who spoke the language of the courses they took. Medical language courses may equip physicians to practice language-concordant care in their careers.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12909-020-02323-xMedical language educationMedical SpanishMedical PortugueseMedical mandarinMedical Haitian creoleLanguage-concordant care |
| spellingShingle | Joseph A. Pereira Kari Hannibal Jasmine Stecker Jennifer Kasper Jeffrey N. Katz Rose L. Molina Professional language use by alumni of the Harvard Medical School Medical Language Program BMC Medical Education Medical language education Medical Spanish Medical Portuguese Medical mandarin Medical Haitian creole Language-concordant care |
| title | Professional language use by alumni of the Harvard Medical School Medical Language Program |
| title_full | Professional language use by alumni of the Harvard Medical School Medical Language Program |
| title_fullStr | Professional language use by alumni of the Harvard Medical School Medical Language Program |
| title_full_unstemmed | Professional language use by alumni of the Harvard Medical School Medical Language Program |
| title_short | Professional language use by alumni of the Harvard Medical School Medical Language Program |
| title_sort | professional language use by alumni of the harvard medical school medical language program |
| topic | Medical language education Medical Spanish Medical Portuguese Medical mandarin Medical Haitian creole Language-concordant care |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12909-020-02323-x |
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