Today at Brown

It seems unlikely that a degree in Portuguese and Brazilian studies might lead to a career in medicine, but that’s exactly where Ben Brown ’08, ’12 MD is today. What’s more, he’s using his background in languages to improve medical interpreter services at local hospitals.

Ben Brown’s project and a handful of others are made possible by a grant from Area Health Education Centers (AHEC), a national organization established in 1971 that provides health care access to underprivileged and vulnerable groups by connecting university science resources, local clinics, and health care providers. Fifty-two medical schools and two nursing programs nationwide are affiliated with 215 community-based AHECs in 47 states and D.C. The week of March 23-27, 2009, is National AHEC Week.

The Rhode Island branch of AHEC is based at Brown’s Alpert Medical School. Students undergo primary health care training while using AHEC grants to plan and execute their own community health projects.

With his foreign language background, Ben Brown is conducting research at Rhode Island Hospital in conjunction with its Interpreter Service Department to analyze whether or not clinicians there are using medical interpreters appropriately – and if not, why they choose not to. Brown hopes to use the data to create programs to train clinicians to effectively serve patients with limited English proficiency.

“The idea is to create a model for institutions to assess their foreign language services,” says Brown, “and then to respond with an interdisciplinary workshop that’s targeted to the particular strengths and weaknesses of that institution.”

Brown adds that the experience has benefited his formal medical education through Doctoring, a required course for all first- and second-year medical students. In the course, students join a community mentor physician once a week to see patients and practice clinical skills, such as taking vital signs and performing patient interviews. The course “is the closest way I tie [my research] into my curriculum,” says Brown.

Along with improving access to medical care for disadvantaged patients, one of AHEC’s major goals is to encourage medical students to pursue primary health care fields. While Brown is still unsure whether he hopes to pursue primary care as his specialty, Lauren Goddard ’11 MD says she is almost certain she will.

Lauren Goddard Goddard’s project is in conjunction with the Stanley Street Treatment and Resources organization, a Fall River, Massachusetts-based group that provides mental health and substance abuse treatment. Goddard worked with the organization’s Birth program in Cranston, Rhode Island, a live-in facility for chemically dependent pregnant and postpartum women and their children. The program aims to reduce drug and alcohol abuse by promoting safe, healthy pregnancies; and to improve family functioning.

Goddard appreciates the opportunity to interact with patients and provide health education through her AHEC project. “I think those are important skills – patient education is a huge part of being a doctor,” she says.

Goddard says the chance to work with chemically dependent individuals reflects the real types of patients she will see in her professional career, and adds that her work with AHEC will help her become a more effective physician when treating people with drug addiction.

This article first appeared in the winter edition of Brown Medicine and is published here with permission of the editor.