Incorporating Spanish Language Instruction Into Health Sciences Programs in a Hispanic-Serving Institution

Abstract

Patient-provider language discordance is a growing problem in health care among Spanish-speaking patients. To produce graduates capable of linguistically competent care, three university programs are incorporating Spanish language instruction into their curricula (pharmacy, physical therapy, and speech-language pathology). We review these three models of Spanish language training and summarize the lessons learned to date. Differences in the training models reflect fundamental differences regarding the use of spoken language in the disciplines.