Dataset Information

Professional language use by alumni of the Harvard Medical School Medical Language Program.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Despite the growing number of patients with limited English proficiency in the United States, not all medical schools offer medical language courses to train future physicians in practicing language-concordant care. Little is known about the long-term use of non-English languages among physicians who took language courses in medical school. We conducted a cross-sectional study to characterize the professional language use of Harvard Medical School (HMS) alumni who took a medical language course at HMS and identify opportunities to improve the HMS Medical Language Program. METHODS:Between October and November 2019, we sent an electronic survey to 803 HMS alumni who took a medical language course at HMS between 1991 and 2019 and collected responses. The survey had questions about the language courses and language use in the professional setting. We analyzed the data using descriptive statistics and McNemar's test for comparing proportions with paired data. The study was determined not to constitute human subjects research. RESULTS:The response rate was 26% (206/803). More than half of respondents (n?=?118, 57%) cited their desire to use the language in their future careers as the motivation for taking the language courses. Twenty-eight (14%) respondents indicated a change from not proficient before taking the course to proficient at the time of survey whereas only one (0.5%) respondent changed from proficient to not proficient (McNemar's p-value

SUBMITTER: Pereira JA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7648424 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Professional language use by alumni of the Harvard Medical School Medical Language Program.

Pereira Joseph A JA Hannibal Kari K Stecker Jasmine J Kasper Jennifer J Katz Jeffrey N JN Molina Rose L RL

BMC medical education 20201106 1

<h4>Background</h4>Despite the growing number of patients with limited English proficiency in the United States, not all medical schools offer medical language courses to train future physicians in practicing language-concordant care. Little is known about the long-term use of non-English languages among physicians who took language courses in medical school. We conducted a cross-sectional study to characterize the professional language use of Harvard Medical School (HMS) alumni who took a medic ...[more]

PMID: 33158441

Similar Datasets

Project description:Objectives: A potential new avenue to address the shortage of country doctors is to change the rules for admission to medical school. We therefore study the link between high-school grade point average and prospective physicians' choice to work in rural areas. To further inform the discussion about rules for admission, we also study the effects of other predictors: a measure of students' attitudes towards risk; whether they waited for their place of study (Wartesemester); whether their parents worked as medical doctors; and whether they have some practical experience in the medical sector. Methods: We conducted two internet surveys in 2012 and 2014. In the first survey, the sample comprised 701 students and in the second, 474 students. In both surveys, we asked students for their regional preferences; in the 2014 survey, we additionally asked students for their first, second, and third preferences among a comprehensive set of specializations, including becoming a general practitioner. In both surveys, we asked students for basic demographic information (age and gender), their parents' occupation, a measure of subjective income expectations, a measure of risk attitudes, and their high-school grade point average (Abiturnote), and First National Boards Examination grade (Physikum). In 2014, we additionally asked for waiting periods (Wartesemester) as well as for prior professional experience in the health-care sector. Results: We find that three factors increase the probability of having a preference for working in a rural area significantly, holding constant all other influences: having a medical doctor among the parents, having worse grades in the high-school grade point average, and being more risk averse. Moreover, we find that those willing to work in the countryside have significantly more experience in the medical sector before admission to medical school. Discussion: Our results suggest that a change in the selection process for medical school may increase the supply of country doctors. Instead of focusing on the high-school grade point average, universities could even more intensely screen for study motivation through interviews or by taking into account students' background, extracurricular activities, or waiting periods.

Project description:OBJECTIVES:We sought to examine the association of early adulthood blood pressure with cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, while accounting for middle-age hypertension. BACKGROUND:Elevated blood pressure in middle age is an established CVD risk factor, but evidence for association with measurements earlier in life is sparse. METHODS:The HAHS (Harvard Alumni Health Study) is a cohort study of 18,881 male university students who had their blood pressure measured at university entry (1914 to 1952; mean age 18.3 years) and who responded to a questionnaire mailed in either 1962 or 1966 (mean age 45.8 years) in which physician-diagnosed hypertension status was reported. Study members were subsequently followed for mortality until the end of 1998. RESULTS:Following adjustment for age, body mass index, smoking, and physical activity at college entry, compared with men who were normotensive according to the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure criteria (<120/<80 mm Hg), there was an elevated risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality (1,917 deaths) in those who were pre-hypertensive (120 to 139/80 to 89 mm Hg) (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.21; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.07 to 1.36), stage 1 (140 to 159/90 to 99 mm Hg) (HR: 1.46; 95% CI: 1.25 to 1.70), and stage 2 hypertensive (?160/?100 mm Hg) (HR: 1.89; 95% CI: 1.46 to 2.45), incremental across categories (p(trend) < 0.001). After additionally accounting for middle-age hypertension, estimates were somewhat attenuated, but the pattern remained. Similar associations were apparent for total and CVD mortality, but not stroke mortality. CONCLUSIONS:Higher blood pressure in early adulthood was associated with elevated risk of all-cause mortality, CVD, and CHD, but not stroke, several decades later. Effects largely persisted after taking into account mediation by middle-age hypertension. Thus, the long-term benefits of blood pressure lowering in early adulthood are promising, but supporting trial data are required.

Dataset Information

Professional language use by alumni of the Harvard Medical School Medical Language Program.

Publications

Professional language use by alumni of the Harvard Medical School Medical Language Program.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets