by Cindy A. Abole, Public Relations

Yo hablo Español. (I speak Spanish)¿ Donde le duele? (Where does it hurt?).

Instructor Marcela Escobar (right), reviews Spanish medical terms with an MUSC medical student.

For the first time, medical students will have the opportunity to begin or enhance their language skills through a medical Spanish class introduced by the College of Medicine and stimulated by student interest.

The course, “Introduction to Medicine Spanish,” was coordinated by second-year medical students Jinlene Chan and K. Gabrielle Gaspar and sponsored by Carol Savage, Ph.D., assistant dean of student academic programs, College of Medicine.

“There was a feeling that something was missing in MUSC’s curriculum.” said Chan, who spent her freshman summer working in Cali, Colombia and leans towards a career in international health. “We hear about other schools who have established an international Spanish class and international focus. That’s something we, as MUSC students, felt was needed.”

“Students have been asking for this class for a couple of years. It’s been a volunteer effort,” Savage said. “Jinlene and Gabrielle worked through the American Medical Student Association. (AMSA), contacted the organization, got information and materials like the textbook, “Qué Pasó,” and got things running.” Savage serves as the faculty sponsor for this course.

Chan and Gaspar worked together to design the class format and curriculum based upon available materials, ideas and experience abroad. Both attended a class taught by Savage in Fall ’97, “Introduction to the International Experience,” an international studies course which featured testimonials given by medical students, staff and faculty who traveled abroad for various health care projects. Chan admits that the Spanish course was designed towards a medical student’s perspective which focus’ on time-constraints and content was planned to make it more worthwhile.

“In our classes, we always talk about high-yield information and that’s why we want to distill Spanish, to its most absolute basics, so that the students can be able to make contact in public, regardless of where they are and how or who they practice it with.”

They agreed upon a curriculum that provided students with a basic foundation of Spanish in vocabulary, grammar and commonly used verbs, conversational skills—pronunciation and listening— and introduction to Hispanic culture.

Their next step was to find an instructor. Working with the Office of International Programs and Services, they connected with Marcela Escobar, a native of Bogotá, Colombia. She is the wife of Juan Manuel Gomez, M.D., who is completing a fellowship in infectious diseases at MUSC.

“I’m really excited about teaching this course,” said Escobar, who is an ophthalmologist in Colombia and the mother of three children. “I’m currently studying for step one in the national medical boards test and find it interesting to teach this class to medical students in my native language. The class has been enjoyable because the students really are interested.”

Escobar meets weekly with her class for seven weeks. “It challenges the students to learn quickly,” she said, regarding the pace. Taught entirely in Spanish, the class covers a broad mix of practical medical terminology, vocabulary and conversational skills. For example, week one covered learning parts of the body, Spanish greetings and verbs. Escobar teaches 34 students and divides her class into small groups based upon ability and interpretation. She also receives help from her assistant Ann Edenfield, an LPN.

Organized as an elective course based on a pass/fail basis, students will receive three credits for completing the class. “This will give students something to record on their transcripts that will look interesting when they start looking for residencies,” Savage said.

And what’s the next step for students completing this medical Spanish course? “We’re prepared to give them information on how they can continue their Spanish learning through total immersion in courses offered by AMSA. Follow-up programs such as an ongoing conversational lunch group would allow students the opportunity of practicing their newly-learned language and making them aware of Hispanic services provided throughout the Lowcountry area.”

“With the Hispanic population growing throughout the United States, Spanish is an important language to learn,” Escobar said. It is estimated that by the year 2010, the United States minority population will increase by 60 percent. This raises the question whether America’s medical students are developing the necessary skills in cultural awareness and cultural competence to meet the needs of a changing patient population.

Savage envisions more interest and expansion of cultural competency at MUSC. According to information provided by the 1996-97 Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) Annual Medical School Questionnaire, 86 percent of medical schools offer at least one type of educational opportunity in multicultural medicine, usually an elective or one-time offering.

Savage recently joined the International Health Medical Education Consortium (IHMEC) in an effort to stay connected and attuned with national cultural competency programs and issues happening in other national institutions. The group met recently in San Jose, Costa Rica, March 4-8 with more than 90 students attending from around the United States. Savage and Chan participated in IHMEC’s poster presentations sharing information on MUSC’s medical Spanish course and Chan’s summer experience in Colombia.

“Down the road, we hope that eventually the medical Spanish course may be utilized by all colleges at MUSC,” continued Savage. “What we want to do is propose that it be offered on a regular, elective basis, campus-wide to all colleges so that nurses, physician assistants, therapists and anyone else, can learn diagnostic medical Spanish. One of the key goals of this university, is to be comfortable in interdisciplinary training because that’s what happens in the real world.”

MUSC faculty/staff flexible to many languages

by Cindy A. Abole, Public Relations

Teaching Spanish and the knowledge of other foreign languages is an important asset to a world-class hospital and teaching institution like MUSC. But the blending of foreign language skills and health care have roots that have been established in the Lowcountry for more than 40 years.

Elizabeth Ochoa, assistant professor of dental medicine, first sponsored a dental elective Spanish class at the College of Dental Medicine in 1990. The class met hourly for 12 weeks with students receiving one hour credit. It was created to meet the demands of interpreting basic phrases and explanations needed to communicate with dental patients during screenings, extractions and restoration work.

Ochoa worked with pronunciation and phrases through the use of audio tapes. Students’ work were evaluated and graded. Over the years, she’s collected materials from various Spanish language resources and designed specific material to supplement her teaching curriculum.

Ochoa is also listed as one of dozens of MUSC faculty and staff featured in the university’s volunteer interpreter’s list. Besides Spanish, MUSC personnel apply their skills in numerous languages and dialects including Arabic, Chinese, French, Hindi, Japanese and Portuguese to aid in translating for patients and visitors. Updated yearly through the President’s Office, the interpreter’s list is cross-referenced with another list from the Trident area which is used to provide emergency translation services to the military, courts, police, hospitals and emergency medical services. The list was created by Margot S. Freudenberg in 1956 in conjunction with the South Carolina World Trade Center—Charleston.

Lilless Shilling, Ph.D., Division of Continuing Professional Education, College of Health Professions, believes there is an increasing demand for her skills in Spanish. Shilling, who is proficient in Spanish and French and volunteer on the university’s interpreter’s list, is being called regularly on a monthly basis. “Imagine how hard it would be to be sick in another country. There’s a haze or fog over you when you don’t know how to speak the native language. That’s how it is for most of these people. It can be so stressful.”

MUSC Administrative Policy describes the medical center’s method for handling foreign language interpreters for patients at MUSC. Often, social workers play the role of intermediary as they arrange for qualified personnel to communicate information between patients and families with physicians and health care workers throughout the course of their care and treatment.

“It’s difficult to pre-arrange the need for interpreter’s until we can meet the patient to discover their needs,” said Joan Janes, R.N. of pediatric cardiology. “Interpreters are usually needed at the last minute.”

Susan Barnes, R.N., also with pediatric cardiology, saw the first-hand effects of the difficulty with language barriers working in pediatric emergency at Charleston Memorial Hospital. “It really is hard when you can’t get any information from the patient and interpreters aren’t always available. This type of burden also hinders the registration process.”

Barnes plans to begin learning Spanish through a summer introductory course at one of the area’s local colleges or community schools “I’d like to be able to speak and communicate in what’s being said and done, especially when there’s a child involved.”