A group of University of Michigan medical students and a professor are teaming up to launch a Medicine in Spanish course to teach participants the skills needed to interact with Spanish-speaking patients in their first language.
Set to launch this fall, the program is a partnership between student leaders in the Latin American and Native American Medical Association (LANAMA) and longtime Professor of Internal Medicine Manuel Valdivieso.
“I’m passionate about helping students because I was in their shoes, trying to conduct examinations in a language that was not my first language. There is a big difference between learning just enough of a new language to get by and becoming fluent enough to conduct an entire patient interview and exam,” said Valdivieso, M.D., who holds an appointment as adjunct professor at Michigan Medicine and remains active volunteering in his native Peru.
The program itself is set to kick off in September with weekly sessions running through the spring. It is open to all UMMS students, but the curriculum is designed for those who already have a grasp of conversational Spanish. Those interested in learning more can attend an informational meeting hosted by Valdivieso and student organizers at 5 p.m. on Aug. 27 in the A. Alfred Taubman Health Sciences Library (room 5000).
Read more about this new program on the Global REACH website.