New Collection of Articles on Language Equity in Medical Education

To recognize and demonstrate that all persons are valued and respected, academic medicine ideally will reflect the communication needs and language preferences of the population. We have curated a collection of articles with the intent of helping readers understand historical perspectives on the need to address language-related health disparities and informing strategies to enhance language-appropriate health care training and assessment at their institutions. Each of us, Dr. Pilar Ortega and Dr. Débora Silva, brings a different perspective on language equity informed by our personal and professional experiences. I (P.O.) learned Spanish at home and English in elementary school. As a young immigrant, I quickly became bilingual and, therefore, the linguistic and cultural navigator for my family. In college, I trained as a volunteer medical interpreter and began what would become a core professional focus on language equity education and research. Since then, I have created programs for physician language training and assessment across the continuum of medical education with learners of diverse multilingual backgrounds and proficiency levels. I (D.S.) am a professor of medicine in Puerto Rico, where Spanish is the language spoken by most patients, even though English is also taught at all schools. At medical schools in Puerto Rico, we teach history taking and communication skills in both Spanish and English; thus, our curriculum is multilingual by design, in order to serve ...
Source: Academic Medicine Blog - Category: Universities & Medical Training Authors: Tags: Guest Perspective Journal Announcement Academic Medicine collection language equity medical education Source Type: blogs