Graduate students from the Department of World Languages & Cultures recently volunteered to participate with faculty and students from the College of Nursing and Health Professions in simulations of healthcare issues that arise when healthcare professionals and their patients do not speak the same language and need to use a translation service to understand each other.
The students from the Department of World Languages & Cultures played the role of patients, and the faculty and students from the College of Nursing and Health Professions acted as nurses and other healthcare professionals. In the simulations, the language students spoke to the health care professionals in a language other than English using a script prepared for them by the College of Nursing and Health Professions.
The language students pretended to be patients who did not speak English. Since the students acting as health professionals did not speak the language of the patients, the students participating in the simulation communicated with one another using VRI (Video Remote Interpreting) technology.
The translators of the professional translation service then mediated the conversations between the language students who were acting as patients and the students at the College of Nursing and Health Professions who were acting as health care professionals. This simulation took place in the Simulation Lab of the College of Nursing and Health Professions. Both groups of students were able to experience and appreciate the difficulties of providing healthcare services to patients in a multilingual and multicultural environment. The students in the Department of World Languages & Cultures were able to see how their language and cultural skills can be of value in future careers, including careers in health care. For both Departments, this was an opportunity for their students to participate in a college-to-career experiential learning project.
The simulation session was organized and coordinated by Dr. Jessica Marcus, Clinical Assistant Professor of Nursing, and Dr. Marta Galindo, Academic Professional and the Director of C I R C L E (the Center for International Resources and Collaborative Language Engagement) of the Department of World Languages & Cultures. Other simulation sessions with different students participating are planned for this Semester.