Prior to interviewing at UT Southwestern, I had never seen a physician use an interpreter because I had only shadowed or worked with native Spanish speaking providers. I was shocked to my core when I caught a simple mistranslation. It wasn't a life or death error but it put in perspective the amount of medical errors caused by mistranslations.
My father attended medical school in Lima, Peru, where I was born. We moved to the U.S. when my father received an offer to conduct his residency in Brooklyn, New York. He did his fellowship in Minnesota and we moved to a medically underserved area as part of the physician visa waiver program. Growing up in a border town in south Texas allowed me to become an "honorary Mexican" and attended a bilingual elementary, middle and high school.
I love being able to speak to patients in Spanish. The first patient I ever served as an interpreter for at Southside Clinic asked me if I was from the same area of Mexico as her. She also asked me how I got my papers since she was undocumented and had just moved to the U.S. It's weird to say that looking and sounding like my patients is an honor, but it truly is. Seeing how much patients love and respect my native Spanish speaking clinical preceptor is incredibly heartwarming and inspiring.
It terrifies me that arrogance could one day lead to my classmates to make a medical error and probably never realize it. I am extremely grateful to be here and for all of the opportunities I have. But somedays I really wish there were more students at UWSMPH that grew up speaking Spanish. Somedays I wish there were more students like me.
Paloma Reinoso, M1
