MAESTRO (Medical Applied Education in Spanish through Training, Resources, and Overlearning)

MAESTRO Certificate Program aims to equip medical students with the necessary cultural awareness and communication skills to care effectively for Spanish-speaking patients.

The MAESTRO Program at Wake Forest School of Medicine aims to train culturally respectful Spanish-speaking providers who will go on to care for the increasing number of Hispanic patients in Winston-Salem and across the U.S. The ultimate goal of the MAESTRO program is to make a contribution in the fight against health inequities. We seek to equip medical students with the necessary cultural awareness and communication skills to care effectively for Spanish-speaking patients and positively impact the health and well-being of this growing and underserved population.

Outcomes

Perform a complete medical history and physical exam in Spanish in a culturally appropriate way and utilize teach back techniques to instruct patients about diagnoses, testing procedures, and/or medications.
Apply relevant cultural knowledge during patient interactions.
Describe personal experiences of their participation during the program in community service involving vulnerable patient populations within the Hispanic communities of Forsyth County and within North Carolina.
Demonstrate self-awareness of language skills and limitations, as well as best practices in working with medical interpreter.

MAESTRO 2025-26

The application process for the 2024-25 school year has been completed.

The dates for the application process for the 2025-2026 year will be posted in the spring of 2025. For more information about the application process, please check the FAQs.

About the Program

When Tiffany Shin (MD) and Carmen Pérez-Muñoz (PhD) met in 2018, they had a common goal: they both wanted to create a Medical Spanish program at the Wake Forest School of Medicine. They initially connected through a shared mentor, Dr. Marco Alemán, director or the CAMPOS program at UNC-Chapel Hill. Dr. Shin was a graduate of the UNC School of medicine and CAMPOS; Dr. Pérez-Muñoz used to teach at the program along with Dr. Alemán for many years. After running a pilot in 2018, Dr. Shin and Dr. Pérez-Muñoz officially launched the MAESTRO certificate in 2019.

In 2022, Mariana Rodríguez-Pardy joined the MAESTRO team as instructor and community engagement leader. Rodríguez-Pardy was involved with the program from its inception, working as a standardized patient for student assessments and training. Dr. Shin and Dr. Pérez-Muñoz immediately saw how Rodríguez-Pardy's knowledge and skillset would be a strong addition to MAESTRO, and she's been a vital part of the development of the certificate since taking her new role.

Still a growing program, MAESTRO receives many strong applications every year, making the selection process really hard for the leadership. MAESTRO students are engaged and motivated individuals with a drive to help the underserved Spanish-speaking community in the clinical setting, deliver quality healthcare, and reduce health disparities. The program helps them develop their language and culture skills, while also focusing on character development, fostering self-reflection, cultural humility, an attitude of service, and promoting a lifelong commitment to acting as advocates for health equity.

Curriculum

Program participants can expect the following structure below:

Year	Skills
Year 1: Foundation	Students participate in monthly workshops with faculty instructor(s) focused on clinical communication skills, medical vocabulary, and cultural awareness. Students receive learning assignments between workshop sessions for continued language practice and skill development outside of workshops. The clinical communication skills curriculum is designed to run concurrently with the traditional curriculum. Students participate in community service and engage with the local Spanish-speaking population.
Year 2: Self-study	Students focus on skill mastery and participate in individual technology-based learning with formal assessments with Spanish-speaking standardized patients. Extra opportunities for oral practice are offered to enable students to keep using and improving their language skills. Students are encouraged to take the Clinician Cultural and Linguistic Assessment (CCLA) to obtain bilingual certification in order to communicate independently with patients without an interpreter.
Years 3 and 4: Application	Students participate in direct contact with Spanish-speaking patients through community engagement. Students also attend extra-curricular events connected to Medical Spanish designed to help them keep developing and honing their linguistic and cultural skills in the medical setting.

Relevance of the program

In the U.S., approximately 57.7 million individuals are of Hispanic origin, and this population is predicted to increase to constitute almost 30% of the U.S. population by 2060. One in five U.S. residents speaks a language other than English at home, and Spanish is the predominant language spoken by individuals with limited English proficiency. Overall, 13% of all individuals speak Spanish as their first language, but less than 6% of physicians identify themselves as Spanish-speakers. To read more about the impact and uniqueness of MAESTRO, click here to access an article from the Wake Forest Magazine highlighting the program.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is MAESTRO for me? What kind of background in Spanish do I need?

MAESTRO applicants should have at least an intermediate level of Spanish to be considered for the program. This usually implies being familiar with most grammatical structures able to hold a conversation in Spanish at a regular pace. Beginners and low-intermediate levels are not appropriate for this program.

I have an advanced/near-native level of Spanish. Can I still apply?

Yes! We have a minimum level of proficiency required, but not a maximum. MAESTRO welcomes applications from advanced, proficient, native and heritage speakers.

What is the application process?

Applicants first fill out a form with personal information (including your language background and your motivation to apply for the program). We recommend you take your time to offer meaningful answers to the questions in this form, as it is the way in which the selection committee will be able to know you better.

A selected number of applicants will be asked to take a language proficiency test. They will have around a week to do it and they will receive specific instructions regarding logistics. Applicants are not responsible for the cost of this test. Applicants should not study for this test, as it's supposed to show their current language skills.

The selection committee will meet to evaluate and rank all applications based on the initial form and the test score and select a cohesive group of students for the MS1 cohort. A total of 8-12 students will be accepted. If an accepted student doesn't take their spot in the program, it will be offered to the next person in the ranking.

Who is in the selection committee?

The selection committee is formed by the MAESTRO faculty and the Student Design Team that helps run the program. This team is usually formed by former MAESTRO students.

I didn't get accepted. What are my choices?

Unfortunately, the WFSOM does not offer other courses or programs in Spanish. However, if your proficiency level is adequate, you can look for volunteering opportunities in the community. Please remember that it is vital to have a good level of Spanish (or any other foreign language) in the clinical setting when communicating with patients in their language to avoid medical errors and miscommunication. The goal is to provide quality care to all patients; hence, those with skills that are not developed enough to communicate effectively should avoid putting themselves in situations in which they would have to interact with patients by themselves. In terms of volunteering, you may look into opportunities through the DEAC clinic, the Community Care Center, the Mobile Health Clinic, the Ronald McDonald House and more.

Leadership and Faculty

Carmen Perez-Munoz Wake Forest School of Medicine

Carmen Pérez-Muñoz, PhD

Assistant Teaching Professor of Spanish

Dr. Pérez-Muñoz is the co-founder and co-director of MAESTRO. She has been teaching medical Spanish for nearly twenty years both in undergraduate and graduate programs, at institutions including UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC School of Medicine, UNC School of Public Health, and A.T. Still University. She loves creating opportunities for cross-campus collaboration between the Wake Forest School of Medicine and the Wake Forest Undergraduate College, where she teaches in and oversees the Spanish Concentration for the Health Professions. Apart from directing and managing MAESTRO, she leads curriculum and instruction in the program.

Mariana Rodríguez-Pardy, MPH, CHI

Project Manager within the NCORP Research Base (National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research Program) at the department of Social Sciences and Health Policy from the Wake Forest School of Medicine

She is a nationally certified healthcare Spanish interpreter and holds a master’s in public health from UNC Chapel Hill. Ms. Rodríguez-Pardy serves as co instructor and community engagement liaison for MAESTRO. She is passionate about promoting culturally and linguistically appropriate services for Spanish speaking populations and supporting Latino arts and cultures both in her personal and professional life.

Tiffany Shin, MD

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

Dr. Shin is the co-founder and co-director of MAESTRO (On hiatus).

How to Apply

Students complete an application in July-August (specific dates TBD). Instructions for a telephone fluency assessment are sent to a select group of students who submitted the online applications.

A selection committee will review applicant materials and selected applicants will be notified by August-September.

Number of Participants

A total of ten and fifteen students will be accepted. If an accepted student doesn't take their spot in the program, it will be offered to the next person in the ranking.

Technology Transfer and Commercialization

Research Focus Areas

Translation to Care

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