Teaching and assessing family medicine clerks' use of medical interpreters

Abstract

Background: Academic health centers must develop strategies to prepare health care providers to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse population.

Methods: We designed a curriculum module, including didactic presentation and a standardized patient experience, to teach and evaluate the knowledge and skills necessary for third-year family medicine clerks to effectively communicate with non-English-speaking patients when using interpreters in clinical settings.

Results: Analyses indicated improvement both in students' knowledge and skills following participation in the curriculum module.

Conclusions: The instructional intervention was successful in improving students' effective use of interpreters in a simulated clinical setting.