Will I have trouble matching in CA/AZ without any spanish?

[sella turcica]

It's actually a bit more complicated than that. I literally speak no spanish (I went with German the entire way through school) but I could learn a few phrases of course. Are CA/AZ residency programs going to shoot me down because of that?

The complication is also that my fiancee is a teacher and she also did the same thing, knows zero spanish. I assume she won't get a job in CA either?

We'd love to provide invaluable services to that state, but I don't want to waste my time. What do you all think?

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[Winged Scapula]

IMHO, speaking Spanish is an asset for a resident in those states but it is not a significant factor *all else being equal.*

That is, the decision about whether to invite you for an interview is based on your USMLE scores, LORs, etc. not whether you speak Spanish. When it comes to ranking, hospitals in predominantly Spanish speaking areas may prefer a Spanish speaking resident over you.

Bear in mind, that despite the overall percentage of the population in these states that speak Spanish it is still very possible to do residency in a hospital where you rarely meet a non-English speaking patient.

 

[Llenroc]

When I've been to Southern California to visit family, I could travel for miles without coming across a white/black/whatever native English speaker. I live in a state without many Hispanics right now, and it's enough of a hassle with interpreters to deal with the few non-English speakers we get. You have to make arrangements for them to come. They come in the afternoon. They page you. You go and see them. It takes twice as long because there's an interpreter. You don't really know if you got through. Then you go call your attending. Major hassle. Not just for the program, but for your own benefit it might be quite unpleasant to go someplace where you're struggling to communicate with your patients each day.

Bear in mind, that despite the overall percentage of the population in these states that speak Spanish it is still very possible to do residency in a hospital where you rarely meet a non-English speaking patient.

I went for an interview in San Antonio once. San Antonio is known for having an old and well assimilated Hispanic population. But the patients I saw in the hospital that day were disproportionately of the recent arrivals from Latin America variety, which makes sense because that's the kind of indigent population you get at university medical centers. Likewise in LA, it's not the rich English speaking people in Hollywood who are going to resident clinics and resident staffed urban hospitals to get their medical needs taken care of.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Llenroc...

I think you need to be careful about assuming that "university medical center" equals "county hospital/indigent care" center. Hospitals with residencies are not all "urban" (ie, inner city).

I trained in two university hospitals for residency and fellowship. I did away rotations at university hospitals during medical school and residency. All of these were very nice places (ie, piano player in the lobby next to the fountain, Starbucks, etc.). Obviously we saw some patients who did not speak English, but the vast majority did and for those who were not fluent, they brought a translator. YMMV of course but I know I am not the exception when I honestly say I've never worked in a "county" hospital save for 1 medical school rotation.

But not all university hospitals are poorly funded county hospitals - whether its Ca, Az or Tx. There are plenty of places with funding and different clientele. If the OP matches at Mayo Scottsdale, UCSF, Santa Barbara Cottage, etc. he will likely not have ANY issues with his lack of Spanish. There are clearly programs in these states which do little to no indigent care.

 

[MedObsession]

I think that most of it will be your own comfort level regarding your ability to communicate (or not) with your Spanish-speaking patients and whether or not you will be doing a disservice to the patients (not providing the best care since you can't grasp the full complaint), or a disservice to yourself (not being able to really fully engage in a patient encounter for learning purposes).

I have applied predominantly in CA, including both University and County hospitals, where the patients are largely Spanish-speaking. None of my interviewers asked me about my ability to speak Spanish, so I don't think that they would necessarily use that as a screening tool. Perhaps if you mentioned that as your "weakness" if they asked what your weaknesses are, then you would draw attention to it.

In addition, because of the nature of this patient population, all of the hospitals had either phone or in-person translating services, or at the very least nurses that are paid an extra stipend to translate. I specifically asked about this on the hospital tours given by residents.

 

[BlondeDocteur]

Our hospital serves a neighborhood that is 99.8% Spanish-speaking, and the overwhelming majority come from the Dominican Republic. Of course we get patients from all over NYC and are a quarternary referral center so the patient base is hardly monochromatic, but still.

It is absolutely not a factor in deciding who gets into medical school or residency here. Honestly, the critical mass of monolingual Spanish speakers is such that residents truly pick up Spanish on the job. By the second or third year most can honestly speak and understand. If not, there are always translators.