Medical Students Travel to Guatemala with Clinical Medical Spanish Elective
Following completion of the Medical Spanish Elective, four rising second-year (L2)
medical students participated in the Clinical Medical Spanish Elective in Antigua,
Guatemala. Through a partnership with Universidad Francisco Marroquín (UFM), LSUHSC-New
Orleans students joined UFM medical students for a one-week outpatient primary care
rotation at Clínicas del Hermano Pedro.
Throughout the rotation, LSU and UFM students worked side by side to obtain patients'
medical histories, perform physical examinations, and participate in patient care
under the supervision of UFM physician preceptors, who guided them through the diagnostic
process and development of treatment plans.
Dr. Patricia E. Molina reinforced the integration of clinical medicine with foundational physiological principles, helping students connect patients' clinical presentations with the underlying mechanisms of disease.
On the final day of the rotation, the students organized and conducted a community
health screening, performing blood glucose testing, blood pressure measurements, and
anthropometric assessments, followed by individualized health counseling—all conducted
in Spanish. This capstone experience provided students with the opportunity to apply
both their clinical and language skills while engaging directly with the local community.
Students consistently described the experience as highly valuable, citing significant gains in medical Spanish proficiency, clinical confidence, and cross-cultural communication skills. The rotation also fostered meaningful professional relationships with UFM medical students and provided opportunities to compare medical education, healthcare delivery, and the pathways to obtaining the medical degree in the United States and Guatemala.
