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. 2024 Nov 17;16(11):e73863.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.73863. eCollection 2024 Nov.

Effectiveness of an Online Medical Spanish Course in Improving Medical Students' Spanish Proficiency

James H Moak  1 , Jessica O González  2 , Federico Velásquez  3 , Vivian I Martínez  3 , Timothy L McMurry  4 , Erin L Keller  5 , Weichao Chen  6
Affiliations

Effectiveness of an Online Medical Spanish Course in Improving Medical Students' Spanish Proficiency

James H Moak et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Introduction: A growing need exists for language-concordant healthcare for Spanish speakers in the United States. More than three-quarters of American medical schools provide Spanish language instruction, but little data exists on best practices. The purpose of this retrospective study was to examine whether an online medical Spanish course is effective at improving medical students' Spanish proficiency.

Materials and methods: The course involved one-on-one instruction and group mini-conferences conducted by teachers based in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Teachers evaluated students before and after the course using a 21-point scale adapted from the Cervantes Institute's Diplomas of Spanish as a Foreign Language (DELE) scale. We used descriptive statistics and Wilcoxon's signed rank test and conducted a thematic analysis.

Results: Eighty students participated. The mean (range) and median levels on the pre-course assessment were 3.8 (1-13) and 3, respectively; the post-course levels were 8.0 (3-16) and 7 (p < 0.001). Thirty-five students (43.8%) completed course evaluations. Twenty-five (71.4%) rated the course as excellent, eight (22.9%) as very good, and two (5.7%) as good.

Conclusion: Language instruction in medical Spanish conducted online by native speakers abroad is effective and well-received by medical students. Future studies should examine whether students maintain their gains in proficiency over the long term.

Keywords: community medicine and public health; education and/or curriculum development; guatemala; hispanic/latino healthcare; immigrant health; medical spanish; minority health care; undergraduate and graduate medical education.

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Conflict of interest statement

Human subjects: Consent for treatment and open access publication was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Institutional Review Board for Social and Behavioral Sciences issued approval 4034. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Students’ pre- and post-course Spanish language proficiency levels on the adapted Diplomas of Spanish as a Foreign Language (DELE) scale from A1.1 (lowest level = 1) to C2.4 (highest level = 21)
Levels above C1.3 (level = 16) not shown as no student surpassed this level.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Students’ overall ratings of the online medical Spanish course (N = 35) (“Please rate the overall quality of this course")
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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