Gray Areas in Language-Concordant Healthcare: a Graduating Medical Student’s Reflection on the Experience and Research on Language and Cultural Competence

Excerpt

Being raised by immigrant parents in the diverse San Francisco Bay Area, I have been drawn to working with immigrant communities. I served as a Cantonese labor coach for pregnant Chinese women, worked at a free clinic serving a low-income and Spanish-speaking population, coordinated an Asian American health fair, and participated in medical Mandarin training. As a daughter of immigrant parents, I often felt at the intersection of different worlds—linguistically and culturally. I have always hoped to become a physician who could bridge the gaps between these worlds to benefit patient care. As a fourth-year medical student, I sought out an elective our medical school’s curriculum provides that encourages us to identify an area inspiring our vision of competent and caring healers, systematically connect with related research, and reflect on lessons learned. In this reflection, I share my story and its connection to related research on concordance between physicians and patients with limited English proficiency (LEP), identifying implications for reducing the burden of suffering from cancer—the mission of the Journal of Cancer Education. …