Implementation of a medical mandarin course for health care providers at the Mount Sinai Hospital

The inability of physicians and patients to communicate due to language differences and the barriers created by the use of interpreters pose a serious problem for delivering quality health care. In response to these issues, a cohort of Mandarin-speaking medical students designed the Essential Medical Mandarin (EMM) course for physicians and health care providers. Our goal was to increase providers' preparedness and comfort level in interacting with Mandarin-speaking patients. The two-hour course introduced participants to the Mandarin language and culturally relevant issues using didactic and focused learning. To assess course effectiveness, a survey was administered to all 35 participants in spring 2008. On a 5-point scale (1=Poor, 5=Excellent), the course quality received a score of 4.62 out of 5. Participants' preparedness and comfort level with a Mandarin-speaking patient were also measured before and after the course. Results showed that attending the EMM course correlated with a 19.4% increase (from an average score of 2.69 out of 10 to 4.63 out of 10), although these values were based on retrospective and subjective responses. The extent to which participants felt the session enhanced clinical work received a 7.68 out of 10. Finally, 34 participants (95.00%) would attend another session, while all participants would recommend the course to colleagues. Suggestions for improvement included holding more sessions and providing portable media. Overall, results indicate the course is a valuable tool that may increase preparedness and comfort level with Mandarin-speaking patients and ultimately, impact the quality of care delivered at Mount Sinai Hospital.