Communicating With Patients Who Prefer a Language Other than English: A Curriculum on Interpreter Use for Medical Students

Introduction: Patients who prefer a language other than English (LOE) often face significant barriers in health care. Although national mandates require access to professional medical interpreters (MIs), studies indicate that interpreter services are frequently underutilized or used inappropriately. Moreover, many medical schools lack a formal curriculum dedicated to training students on the effective use of MIs. Methods: test were used to characterize responses and analyze differences between pre- and postcourse responses. Results: with the curriculum. Discussion: This educational innovation successfully addressed a critical gap in medical training by introducing a structured curriculum focused on best practices for working with MIs. The hybrid approach of an online module followed by in-person practice was a time- and resource-efficient way to integrate this information into a busy medical student schedule.