Spanish Language and Community Medicine Residency Track

Background

By 2060, the Census Bureau projects that Hispanics will comprise nearly 30 percent of the U.S. population. Nationwide, the percentage of Hispanic physicians has been decreasing since 1980. According to the AAMC, the percentage of Hispanic U.S. medical school graduates in 2019 was 5.3% and the percentage of Hispanic physicians practicing family medicine was 6.5%. In Michigan this number is lower than 3%. The need for bilingual and bicultural physicians grows every year. 

Mission

To ensure the training of bilingual and bicultural family physicians that will continue caring for the Hispanic population and underserved communities upon graduation. 

Goals

• To provide the knowledge, skills, and clinical experience that will be needed to work with the Hispanic community upon completion of training.
• To fill the need for bilingual/bicultural physicians in Michigan and in the U.S.A.

SLCM residents are primarily based at our Ypsilanti Health Center for their primary clinic site, where a substantial proportion of the patients are Spanish speaking.

SLCM residents are required to complete all their family medicine rotations along with their fellow residents. Some of the track components are longitudinal and others are completed during elective rotations. 

The track has 5 components, which include:

• Cultural awareness and health topics: 

Goal: To understand which are the most common diseases that affect the Hispanic community and the role that the Hispanic culture plays in health outcomes.

How: Monthly journal review.  Topics include cultural aspects and common medical diseases in the Hispanic community, as well as improving communication in Spanish in areas such as breaking bad news, counseling, and motivational interviewing. 

• Community participation:

Goal: To engage in active participation of community events.

How: Active participation in local meetings of “Buenos Vecinos”, a local organization that helps the Hispanic Community of Ypsilanti. Also, active participation in community activities with the Mexican consulate in Detroit.

• Teaching:

Goal: To continue supporting the pipeline of Hispanic medical students through education.

How: Through teaching opportunities to students from LANAMA (Latin American and Native American Medical Association). 

• Clinical experience in different settings:

Goal: To be able to practice and function in different clinical settings.

How: Through rotations in the migrant clinic, suburban clinic, school-based clinic, off site rotation (Community Health and Social Services) and an international volunteer experience.

• Scholarly project:

Goal: To develop a research project based on the needs identified in the Hispanic community.

How: Through a research project developed during the 3 years of training with the goal to present  the findings in the NHMA (National Hispanic Medical Association) conference during the 3^rd year of training.

Graduation Requirements

• Completion of each of the curriculum components
• Poster presentation at the NHMA conference

Application

One position out of each 13-person class is reserved for this track, which is listed with its own match number in the NRMP.

Requisites

Applicants to this track will be expected to have advanced or fluent Spanish speaking skills, and can expect that between 30-50% of their patient panel will be Spanish speaking.