Students Hold Medical Spanish Workshop

Neurons fired off at the Northeast Ohio Medical University’s neurological medical Spanish workshop, held Monday, Feb. 24.

The event was the third medical Spanish workshop of the 2019-2020 academic year hosted by NEOMED’s Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA).

The workshop brought together 30 students from the NEOMED’s Colleges of Graduate Studies, Medicine, and Pharmacy with the goal of learning how to better communicate with Spanish-speaking patients.

LMSA’s medical Spanish officer, second-year medicine student Kevin Garven, gave a presentation about the Spanish terminology needed to talk about neurological medications and how to conduct a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Stroke Scale exam with Spanish-speaking patients.

Then, members of LMSA’s executive board faculty advisor, Victor Torres, director of global engagement, led small groups where students had the opportunity to practice the exam in Spanish.

Each attendee received a printout with English and Spanish translations of prescriptions and common medications, as well as instructions on how to conduct a neurological exam using the NIH stroke scale.

Community outreach

As the Spanish-speaking population continues to grow in the United States, LMSA wants to encourage health care providers to learn the skills needed to serve their future patients. These medical Spanish workshops are just one of the ways that our student organization reaches out to the NEOMED community — and beyond — to advocate for Spanish-speaking patients.

The Akron Community Health Fair is another way LMSA helps NEOMED students expand their medical Spanish skills, by conducting free health screenings to underserved patients in Akron, Ohio.

This year, the health fair will take place Sunday, April 19, at St. Bernard Catholic Church, 44 University Ave., Akron, OH 44308, from 1-6 p.m.

Photo: Second-year College of Medicine students Ashley Myer (left) and Anna Cherian (right) practice the NIH stroke scale in Spanish.  

— Kevin Garven, a second-year College of Medicine student and LMSA officer, contributed this reflection.