Enhancing Clinical Spanish Proficiency Through Standardized Patient Interactions: A Case Study on Medical Students' Performance

BackgroundThe growing Hispanic population in the United States highlights the urgent need for Spanish-speaking healthcare professionals to address clinical language barriers. In response, the California University of Science and Medicine introduced the Vida Medical Spanish curriculum to equip medical students with linguistic and cultural skills for effective communication with Spanish-speaking patients. A key component of this program is the use of Spanish-speaking Standardized Patients in role-playing scenarios that simulate real clinical encounters. MethodsThis prospective cohort study, conducted between 2022 and 2023, assessed the relationship between student attendance at Standardized Patient sessions within the Vida Medical Spanish curriculum and their performance in the Medical Spanish Objective Structured Clinical Examination. Over an 18-month period, data were collected for 56 medical students in the pre-clerkship curriculum. A multiple regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the impact of class participation on clinical Spanish competency. ResultsThe findings indicate a statistically significant positive correlation between consistent interactions with Standardized Patients and higher scores in the Medical Spanish Objective Structured Clinical Examination (r = 0.74, p < 0.001). These results underscore the critical role of regular participation in interactive educational settings in enhancing clinical assessment skills. DiscussionThe inclusion of Standardized Patients in the medical Spanish curriculum plays an important role in improving students' clinical communication skills. This study highlights the significance of integrating interactive patient encounters into language-specific medical training to enhance physicians' preparedness for culturally and linguistically concordant care.