Feasibility of Spanish-language acquisition for acute medical care providers: novel curriculum for emergency medicine residencies

Figures & data

Table 1 Key content areas taught in each of the modules of the Spanish-language immersion curriculum

A. Reading activity

B. Listening activity

C. Speaking activity

D. Grammar component

E. Writing component

F. Cultural understanding

G. Medicine in the Spanish world (current and authentic news in Spanish)

H. Important useful phrases

I. Content review using podcast: audio and video

J. Quizzes available online using “Desire to Learn” (D2L) to practice and review what residents have learned in class

Note: Each module was taught completely in Spanish and held during didactic time.

Table 2 Activities used in modules to teach key content areas in the Spanish-language immersion program

Greetings	Use of proper greetings in Spanish for all occasions
Spanish word of the day	A word that students must master and use during the day
Design activities	To help doctors achieve appropriate intended outcomes: (experience, share, process, generalize, and apply)
How to obtain general information	Como se siente [How are you feeling], tiene dolor [do you have any pain]. Adjectives of comparison: mucho, poco, nada, [a lot/lots, a little/not much, nothing]
Use of Hispanic songs as a teaching tool	“Me arde” [It burns](Andrés Calamaro), “Mis ojos” (My eyes)(Maná)
Obtaining general information	For example, family illnesses: how to obtain family medical history
Medications	Analgésico [analgesic, pain killer], medicina para el dolor [pain killer], etc
Body parts	Abdomen [abdomen], ojos irritados [itchy eyes], cabeza [head], brazo [arm], etc
Treatment descriptions	Radiografía [an X-ray], tratamiento mediante radiaciones [radiation treatment]
Patient habits	Fumar [to smoke), beber [to drink], corer [to run], comer [to eat], abuso [to abuse, to misuse, to take advantage of], etc
Adjectives to indicate discomfort and pain	Doloroso(a) [painful], palpitaciones rápidas [rapid beatings, palpitations]/latidos fuertes del corazón [rapid pulsations of the heart], reacción [reaction], preparación [to prepare, to be in preparation]
Post-treatment useful vocabulary	Convalecencia [convalescence], etapa de recuperación [time to recuperate, on the road to recovery], recurrente [recurring]
Patient previous surgeries and implants	Marcapasos [cardiac pacemaker], implante [implant], dentaduras [teeth, dentures]
Symptoms	Tener [to have], doler [to hurt, to have pain], molestar [to bother, to annoy, to feel uncomfortable], mareos [dizziness, giddiness], dolor de pecho [chest pain], dolor de estómago [stomachache], asma [asthma], ETS/enfermedad de transmisión sexual [STD/sexually transmitted disease], intoxicación por alcohol [alcoholic intoxication], debilidad [weakness, debility], ataque epileptic [epileptic seizure], etc
Identifying needs	Physical, social, and emotional needs
Memorization	Memorization of useful phrases and vocabulary utilizing iPod, visual aids, etc.
Doctor–patient sample dialogs	To help improve memorization in order to perform the given tasks; students hear, repeat, and respond
Native speaker demonstrations	Authentic/simulation video clips of doctor/patient who performed the tasks
Role play	With selected native speaker demonstrations, residents are given a role and participants will help pinpoint the needs of the patient based on specific symptoms, etc
Alternative medicine	Herbal medicines to treat patients, vocabulary to introduce students to alternative medicine

Note: Some items appear as Spanish [English translation].

Table 3 Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) scale, Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) descriptor, and their associated skill-level definitions

ILR scale	OPI descriptor	Definition
5	Native	Able to speak like an educated native speaker
4+/4	Distinguished	Able to speak with a great deal of fluency, grammatical accuracy, precision of vocabulary, and idiomaticness
3+/3	Superior	Able to speak the language with sufficient structural accuracy and vocabulary to participate effectively in most formal and informal conversations
2+	Advanced Plus	Able to satisfy most work requirements and show some ability to communicate on concrete topics
2	Advanced	Able to satisfy routine social demands and limited work requirements
1+	Intermediate – High	Able to satisfy most survival needs and limited social demands
1	Intermediate – Mid	Able to satisfy some survival needs and some limited social demands
	Intermediate – Low	Able to satisfy basic survival needs and minimum courtesy requirements
0+	Novice – High	Able to satisfy immediate needs with learned utterances
0	Novice – Mid	Able to operate in only a very limited capacity
	Novice – Low	Unable to function in the spoken language
	0	No ability whatsoever in the language

Table 4 Resident language-acquisition testing on the ACTFL/OPI scale at baseline, following 1 year and 2 years in the program

Resident number	Baseline	Following year 1	Following year 2
1	1+	2	2+
2	1+	2−	2+
3	2−	2+	4
4	2+	3+	–
5	0−	1+	–
6	0+	3	–
7	0−	0−	–
8	0−	0−	–
9	0+	2+	–
10	0−	1−	1+
11	0−	0+	2
12	0−	0−	1−
13	3+	4−	4+
14	0+	0+	1+
15	0−	0+	1+
16	0−	1	2+

Note: Residents with just “−” were junior residents who had not completed their 2nd year of training.

Abbreviations: ACTFL, American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages; OPI, Oral Proficiency Interview.