ABSTRACT #28

SEÑOR - SPANISH EDUCATION NOURISHING OUR RESIDENTS

Rachel E. Moss, Rachel Wilkinson, Leora Mogilner

PURPOSE AND GOALS: The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated many disparities in healthcare outcomes amongst

Spanish-speaking patients at Mount Sinai Hospital. We serve a large Spanish-speaking population that relies on interpreters or Spanish-speaking care providers, and while many pediatric residents have some degree of Spanish language education, they lack the proficiency or comfort level to communicate in Spanish in the workplace. Hoping to improve Spanish proficiency among residents, and ultimately improve communication between residents and patients, we launched a Medical Spanish pilot course in 2020. This course not only increased participants’ language skills, but also promoted resident wellness. Inspired by the success of the pilot, we proposed a larger initiative entitled SENOR: Spanish Education Nourishing Our Residents, which strives to provide a wider variety of practice opportunities and create a cohesive learning community as residents connect and support each other in their language development.

METHODS: In 2022, this program was awarded an ACGME Back2Bedside grant to expand our program. The program can now accommodate 30 students for 12 weekly virtual classes at the beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. The program also includes in-person conversation labs and we plan to launch a peer tutor mentorship program in order to accelerate language acquisition and foster a deeper sense of community among learners.

EVALUATION PLAN: We designed pre and post surveys to be administered before the course and upon completion. Questions assessed the program’s effect on participants’ sense of community and how they relate to Spanish- speaking patients. Participants also took a Spanish language proficiency test to determine the appropriate class level.

SUMMARY OF RESULTS: 23/25 participants completed our pre-class survey. 78% of respondents rated themselves as novice or intermediate Spanish speakers. We found that lack of Spanish fluency impacted provider comfort and rapport for a significant percentage of respondents: 30% report feeling uncomfortable providing care for patients whose primary language is Spanish, and 39% feel less connected to patients whose primary language is Spanish.

Seventeen percent report spending less time engaging with patients whose primary language is Spanish.

REFLECTIVE

CRITIQUE:

Our pre class survey demonstrates that a significant proportion of program participants feel less comfortable and connected with primarily Spanish speaking patients. At the conclusion of the 2022-2023 SENOR course, we will administer a post test that will again assess participants’ selfassessment of their own Spanish level and their comfort communicating with Spanish-speaking patients, along with probing participants on how the Spanish course has impacted their ability to engage with patients and their own sense of well- being. Given that the majority of participants are novice or intermediate Spanish speakers, an important balancing measure will be maintaining high interpreter utilization.