The Latino Health Elective is an opportunity for fourth year medical students to improve their ability to provide medical care in Spanish, to increase their understanding of Latino health issues and disparities, and to research a topic of relevance to the health of Latino communities. The elective experience will take place at East Boston Neighborhood Health Center (EBNHC), Boston Medical Center, and Boston area community agencies. Students will participate in clinical sessions in Family Medicine and Chronic Disease Management at EBNHC. Specialty clinical sessions will take place at BMC. Students will be responsible for conducting history and physical examinations in Spanish and presenting their findings in standard oral presentation format in English. At community agencies, students will learn about outreach to the Latino community around issues of immigration, housing, education, and more. Latino elder care will be explored with an adult day health program. Selected readings will be provided to students to expand their knowledge of Latino communities in the United States and health disparities facing Latinos. These readings will be reviewed independently and discussed with the course director. During the four week rotation the student will select a topic of interest relevant to the Latino community and prepare an oral presentation to be shared in the final week. Students will be evaluated on the basis of their participation in clinical sessions and engagement with community agencies and independent readings. The final presentation will be evaluated on the basis of relevance to Latino health and skills in oral presentation.

Note that this information may change at any time. Please visit the MyBU Student Portal for the most up-to-date course information.