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Medical Spanish

International Medical Universities

by Tara Peris

International medical universities are designed to create health care practitioners who are well versed in the administration of culturally competent care. Recognizing that regardless of country of origin, physicians are likely to confront patients from backgrounds different from their own, these institutions emphasize the importance of learning to work with heterogeneous patient populations. From communicating with patients to coordinating care with other health care providers, competence with cross-cultural health care is critical.

Supplementing the Traditional Training Model

Most major hospitals in the United States have special programs set up to deal with international patients. These programs address the unique needs of foreigners who come to the U.S. specifically for medical care. In addition to these specialty programs, however, hospitals in all corners of the country are dealing with international patients of a different kind.

That is, in addition to people who fly to America for medical care, there is a massive base of foreign-born patients who now reside in the U.S. and rely on its health care services. Thus, doctors, nurses, and emergency medical technicians must be able to communicate and treat people from a wide variety of cultures and countries. Although American medical schools are beginning to address this health care need as part of their core curriculum, many students go abroad for further study.

International medical universities provide specialty training in how to work with foreign populations. Medical students can pick a language or region of interest and then immerse themselves in study for as much as a year. This allows them to continue schooling while gaining an invaluable real-world experience to supplement traditional didactic training.

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