Language Proficiency Testing

It is disconcerting that language proficiency went untested or that non-standard methods were used to measure proficiency after medical Spanish course completion. However, what is more disconcerting is that over half the schools who offer medical Spanish courses allow students to serve as interpreters without measuring language proficiency in a standardized way (Fernandez and Perez-Stable). Healthcare systems should test the skills of Spanish-speaking physicians before they are allowed to care for patients without an interpreter. There are several commercially-available, language proficiency tests that focus on medical Spanish and that can be administered in person or over the phone. It should be required that physicians have bilingual certification

Additionally, there must be mandatory testing to evaluate language ability, so that only certified bilingual doctors can care for LEP patients without an interpreter. This more effective communication and Spanish proficiency certification is needed because of the growing rate of immigration of Spanish-speaking people in the U.S. This increased immigration rate of Spanish speaking people has created an overall, greater sense of globalization, which is why it is important to not only know another language, but also be aware of different cultures. While it is important for doctors to now know Spanish linguistically because of increased population of Hispanics, it is equally important for doctors to know Spanish culturally with its definitions of values. One big issue with doctors and medical students is that they have a tendency to overestimate their language skills and underutilize professional interpreters, which leads to false fluency and ultimately medical errors. To combat this issue, a bilingual certification would educate doctors and make them aware of when to use professional interpreters. From the National Survey of Medical Spanish Curriculum by Morales and Rodriguez, it is shown that post-course evaluations were available only 50% of the time in medical Spanish programs. Healthcare systems should test the skills of Spanish-speaking physicians before they are allowed to care for patients without an interpreter because of the dangers of malpractice that are likely to happen if these doctors are not fluent in Spanish. Another cause of malpractice can be miscommunication between a doctor and patient. Miscommunication can hinder health related outcomes and can even increase rates of physical injury. Many times miscommunication can arise from different