Question 2. What are the Advantages of Medical Student
Interpretation?
The literature reveals several advantages of medical student
interpretation, which can be classified into 2 categories: advantages
for patients and healthcare institutions, and advantages for student
education.
2.1 Medical student interpretation is beneficial for
patients and healthcare institutions. In healthcare institutions,
student interpreters help expand the pool of interpreters, which was
found to reduce the stress on staff, reduce wait time, and help maintain
quality of care.15, 33, 38 They contribute to
increasing in-person interpreter availability, which is often preferred
over virtual means and leads to greater patient and physician
satisfaction.15 Furthermore, medical students may
often spend more time with patients than staff physicians and can
contribute to their team’s care of LLP patients by gathering additional
information.33, 39 Students who share the same
language with patients were also found to be in a better position to
notice cultural subtleties and to provide culturally concordant
explanations, which overall support the promotion of patient-centered
care. 33, 39 Hospital staff and patients were found to
be grateful for interpretation services provided by medical students,
who were noted to be conscientious and demonstrate good judgement about
when to seek help.35 According to Diaz et al,
participants in the respective training program were highly rated by
healthcare providers. 34 Some physicians also found it
helpful to have even untrained medical students interpreting in certain
clinical encounters. 39 Finally, permitting students
to serve as interpreters has been suggested to contribute to building a
future workforce of culturally competent physicians, and heighten the
awareness of cultural sensitivity among healthcare
providers.15, 38
2.2 Medical student interpretation is beneficial for
students’ education. While it was advantageous for both patients and
healthcare institutions to have medical students as interpreters,
students themselves also benefitted from this relationship. They were
found to gain a better multidisciplinary perspective through working
with different members of the healthcare team and to learn about the
interpersonal and technical dimensions of healthcare.15, 35, 39, 40 Furthermore, with exposure to a diverse
population of various cultural backgrounds, students had the opportunity
to build their cultural competency skills and prepare themselves to
serve a diverse patient population. 15, 34, 39, 41Even when medical students served as ad hoc interpreters without prior
training, they reported the experience to be positive overall. In these
cases, students highlighted that they connected with patients in
meaningful ways, and that they enjoyed making a valuable contribution to
patient care.25, 33, 35 The experience also
contributed to the formation of their identity as professional
healthcare providers. 25, 41 Preclinical students
benefited greatly by gaining early exposure to patient care.15, 36 Moreover, medical students who participated in
an interpretation training program reported becoming better informed
about medical interpretation and being more comfortable in that role.21, 34, 36 They also improved their communication
skills by gaining insight into the ways both verbal and nonverbal forms
of communication can influence a patient encounter.21,
34 It was also found that by attending interpretation training,
students became more empathetic towards patients with limited English
proficiency. 21, 40, 41