Submission ID 77839
| Code | OG-3-4 |
|---|---|
| At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to: | |
| Category | Medical Education |
| Type | Oral |
| Will the presenter be a: | Student |
| Title | Role of Medical Students as Interpreters in Bridging the Language Barrier in Academic Healthcare Centers: A Scoping Review |
| Background/Purpose | Linguistic concordance between the healthcare provider and the patient is critical to provide quality healthcare. Professional interpretation can be expensive and challenging to access. This scoping review aimed to explore the evidence on the role and education of medical students as interpreters in caring for patients with limited English proficiency (LEP), and to determine the benefits and risks associated with this practice. |
| Methods | A scoping review was conducted with articles obtained from a systematic search of 6 databases in 01/2022. All publications discussing the use of medical students as interpreters in healthcare settings were included. 13 documents were selected and analyzed using Covidence, with coding by two raters and regular team discussions. A thematic analysis framework was used. |
| Results | Multilingual medical students are frequently asked to interpret in healthcare settings. This was found to be advantageous in reducing communication barriers, improving quality of care, and contributing to students' clinical experience. Concerns were raised regarding the lack of knowledge on the professional obligations of the interpreter role. Interpretation training programs for medical students have now been implemented at select academic healthcare centers and demonstrated successful results in providing care to LEP patients. |
| Discussion | Medical students play an important role in addressing language barriers in healthcare institutions when serving LEP patients, by complementing their unique role in the healthcare team with their medical, linguistic, and cultural competency skills. This review opens a discussion on the opportunities in medical education to promote the delivery of language-concordant care, including the exploration of interpretation training for multilingual students. |
| Keyword 1 | Medical Education |
| Keyword 2 | Language Barriers |
| Keyword 3 | Interpretation |
| Abstract content most relevant to: (check all that apply) | Undergraduate Medical Education |
| Abstract Track - First Choice | Curriculum |
| Authors | Jun Yang Liu Shihan Chen Jun Yang Liu Kenzy Abdelhamid Darya Naumova Amy Bergeron Anish Arora Bertrand Lebouché |
