Lessons Learned from a New Medical Spanish Course in a Physician Assistant Program

Methods. Because of the growing Latino population in the region, a Medical Spanish course was developed for Master-level physician assistant students. Forty- three (28 females and 15 males), participated in a one semester credit hour pass/fail course for a total of 12 weeks. The course format included lectures, small group practical exercises, homework assignments, and games. Results. Thirty four percent of students had no previous Spanish language instruction and the remaining sixty six percent had an average of 1.37 years instruction. The pre-test scores were higher (p <.05) for students who had previous Spanish language instruction. There was a direct relationship between students who had a prior knowledge of the language and their pre-test grades, however, this influence was not observed in the post-test comparison. The mean post–test was 94.7% compared to the pre-test mean score of 39%. Conclusion. The findings suggest a significant improvement in language comprehension in a 12-week period without disrupting the customary coursework. Students suggested using medical interpreters as lecturers as well as to divide the class depending on Spanish proficiency. The need to interact with the Spanish community was also a common request. Opportunities to fulfill these requests are being sought out for the next cohort of students.