Health Science Students

Reflecting the country’s rapidly changing demographics, Temple University’s Health System and Health Sciences Center schools intend to develop an interdisciplinary education program that better prepares students and health professionals to serve multilingual and multicultural patient populations.

This provider-patient communications training program will enhance participants’ abilities and confidence to serve limited English proficiency patients and those of other cultures. The program will be structured initially as weekly, one-hour sessions and utilize various modalities including: lectures, case studies, role-playing, group discussions, practicum, audio-visual presentations, patient focus groups, field trips and mentoring. Program design will emphasize convenience to facilitate participation by students (medical, dental, pharmacy, nursing, allied health, public health and social work), medical residents, clinicians and researchers.

Students may be motivated to participate due to the program’s degree enhancement opportunity, the desire to better serve the community or their need to develop multicultural competency. Measurement and testing will be conducted to assess program effectiveness and individual participant learning. Program involvement will lead to a certificate of completion in cultural competency. Efforts will be made with the State Department of Health to recognize the program’s certificate of completion in a meaningful way.

The initial year will be structured as add-on courses that can be attended by registrants at no cost. Each school can provide program information and encouragement to students utilizing their own mechanisms to generate enrollment. For example, the Temple University School of Medicine plans to submit the program for recognition as a preceptorship for first and second year students starting January 2005. Other schools may utilize the HDTP in similar fashion.

Through the collaboration of faculty, administrators and students, the program is expected to evolve into a series of elective mini-courses within two years, and ultimately contribute to the core curricula for several schools.

The program will provide students, residents, clinicians and researchers with information, training and practical experience in a convenient, supportive, interdisciplinary environment. Content areas will include cultural competency, medical terminology, working with immigrant populations, culture and health, cross-cultural communication, working with interpreters, legal issues and interpreter training. Both evidence-based and investigational concepts will be presented. A Web site will archive learning materials for easy access to participants and external users.

Temple faculty, administrators, students and community leaders will contribute to course content. Several components will be developed from an established curriculum utilized by the City College of San Francisco. Faculty training in this curriculum will be supported by the Hablamos Juntos grant.

The program will be co-directed by Raul DeLa Cadena, MD Associate Dean of the Temple University School of Medicine and Ricardo Unda, MD, PhD, Education Director of the Temple-Hablamos Juntos project, a demonstration project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. An interdisciplinary advisory board will be established, comprised of deans’ representatives from each school, a TUHS administrator, nursing school staff and external members.