WITHDRAWN: Medical Student Perspectives on Safe Use of Non-English Language Skills in Patient Care: Effects of an Educational Intervention to Teach Self-Assessment Tools

Abstract

Introduction The common practices of doctors “getting by” with limited language skills or using multilingual students/staff as ad hoc interpreters endanger care for populations with non-English language preference. We developed a session for medical students to learn to use two validated self-assessment tools: the Interagency Language Roundtable adapted for Healthcare (ILR-H) and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Can-Do Statements. Methods All 179 first-year students at an urban medical school attended the session. Students used the ILR-H (a single item scaled from poor 1 to excellent 5) and Can-Do Statements (four items each scaled from novice 1 to distinguished 5) to self-report their skill level in any non-English language (multilingual students) and the minimum language level they believed necessary for safe patient care (all students). We analyzed correlations between ILR-H and Can-Do Statement self-ratings and differences in multilingual vs. monolingual student perspectives. Results Overall, 139 respondents (83%) were multilingual. Multilingual students’ mean ILR-H self-rating (2.36 [SD = 1.17]) and Can-Do Statements composite score (3.64 [SD = 2.32]) were strongly correlated (r = .91, p < .001). Post-session, fewer students felt ready to provide language-concordant care (32% [51/158] post vs. 41% [64/158] pre; p < .001). The mean ILR-H level reported by multilingual students as needed for safe patient care was 3.25 (SD = .94), higher than that reported by monolingual English speakers (2.57 [SD = 1.40]; p = .001). Discussion Teaching language self-assessment can enhance medical students’ critical awareness of the nuances of communicating with linguistically diverse patients. Future work should evaluate whether teaching self-assessment impacts clinical decision-making around language and interpreter use.