Learning Spanish, Serving Patients, and Understanding the Importance of Cultural Competency
Student Dr. Kelsey Johnston, PNWU-COM Class of 2025, shares her lessons on cultural immersion, language acquisition, and the importance of compassion in patient care.
Read about her transformative experience and the powerful impact of bridging language barriers in healthcare.
In second grade, I was assigned to do a project where we had to pick a country and learn all about it. I picked Costa Rica and, upon flipping into the pages of an Encyclopedia Británica, fell in love with the culture I found. Ever since, it was my dream to visit such a culturally rich place.
When I was able to take language classes in high school, choosing Spanish was an easy decision. While I learned grammar rules and broadened my vocabulary, I also deepened my appreciation for the beauty of various cultures: tapas in Spain, hoja de coca for workers at high altitudes in the Peruvian mountains, el Día de los Muertos, cathedrals, festivals, and a riot of colors.
Still, despite my passion, I was never able to visit any of the countries I had been learning about during high school and college.
However, as a third-year osteopathic student at PNWU, I heard about the global health elective and eagerly seized the opportunity to spend a month in Peru.
The first week was a Spanish-intensive experience: seven hours a day of language classes. For the next three weeks, we would work in the hospital with the residents in the mornings and focus on improving our Spanish in the afternoons. Classes were divided into conversation, grammar, and medical terminology.
The first week felt overwhelming.
Speaking in a different language all the time — one that I could barely understand — was exhausting. Even when we returned to our homestay, we were bombarded with questions in Spanish about our lives, the food we liked, how school went, and so on.
It was fun, and it was draining, but the second week, I began to understand more of what my host parents were saying.
In the hospital, during the first week, I was able to participate in rounds and answer questions about the side effects of antibiotics — in Spanish! By the beginning of the third week, I was thinking in Spanish all the time, and it felt odd switching back to English when I called my husband at the end of the day.
It was truly an immersive experience, and while my Spanish improved immensely, it also gave me a deep appreciation for how difficult it can be for patients to communicate with us when English is not their first language.
I am proud of pushing myself beyond my comfort zone, but I am both in awe of and saddened for the patients who must struggle to communicate with healthcare professionals. I am committed to continuing my Spanish studies until I am fluent, so my patients won’t have to fight to communicate with me.
By Student Doctor Kelsey Johnston
PNWU College of Osteopathic Medicine Class of 2025