By Kandace Donaldson
Posted July 17, 2025
For recent graduates of The University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Alejandra Moran Olivas, MD, and Edilberto Estrada-Rivera, MD, the Spanish language is more than a way to connect with family or order food at a restaurant. It’s a lifeline.
“A big portion of the patients we see at UNM Hospital are Spanish-speaking,” Estrada-Rivera said. “We talk to patients in their language very frequently. It makes a difference.”
Moran Olivas, who immigrated from Mexico as a child, agreed.
“You can visually see the relief that patients feel whenever the provider comes in speaking their language,” he said. “It’s already scary coming into the hospital, so if we can provide some comfort, that’s great.”
Estrada-Rivera and Moran Olivas are among the first medical graduates to complete all four years of the UNM School of Medicine’s Longitudinal Clinical Communication Skills in Spanish program.
Language isn’t just words. It’s also cultural knowledge, empathy, and trust.”
Veronica Plaza, MD, MPH, Language Equity Initiatives
The program offers intensive training in medical Spanish and cultural competency to help future health care providers better serve New Mexico’s large Spanish-speaking population.
“It’s been really rewarding to participate in a program like this,” said Moran Olivas, who is going into an emergency medicine residency now that she has graduated. “It’s essential for me to be able to practice in the language that so many of our patients speak—and do it in a way they understand.”
The program’s curriculum follows the medical school’s block schedule, offering classroom instruction, clinical simulations, community outreach, and teaching opportunities throughout all four years. Students in the program take a certification exam called the Clinician Cultural and Linguistic Assessment (CCLA) to demonstrate their ability to provide direct care in Spanish without needing an interpreter.
Veronica Plaza, MD, MPH, the Language Equity Initiatives director, has taught medical Spanish at UNM since 2008. She said she developed the longitudinal curriculum to build on earlier pilot efforts.
Thanks to those efforts, today, UNM is one of only a few schools nationwide to offer this type of immersive, multi-year training.
“My entire career has been about language access and how language access impacts health outcomes,” Plaza said. “This is a way of trying to address that need.”
Plaza said students get plenty of real-world practice during rotations and in hospital settings.
“Language isn’t just words,” she said. “It’s also cultural knowledge, empathy, and trust. When providers speak a patient’s language, it lowers stress, improves communication, and leads to better care.”
Plaza also said State support has played a key role in helping the program grow and serve more students.
“We are grateful to the New Mexico State Legislature for funding the Clinical Communication Skills in Spanish program,” she said. “This critical support empowers us to prepare the next generation of healthcare providers to serve the people of New Mexico.”
For students like Estrada-Rivera, who is beginning his general surgery residency, those lessons are already paying off.
“I had a patient from Venezuela during my psychiatry rotation who didn’t speak any English at all,” he said. “She had a lot of trauma and felt very alone. I was able to be her point person, and she opened up to me. That trust mattered.”
Students also help teach younger cohorts and assist with simulations for underclassmen. The program has even supported international connections with medical students in Mexico and Puerto Rico, offering cross-cultural exchanges to build language and clinical skills.
The need is urgent. Only 6% of physicians in the United States are Latino, Estrada-Rivera said.
“We try to talk to high schoolers and undergrads and encourage them to go into health care,” he said. “Representation matters.”
Plaza agreed.
“We have a shortage of health care providers in all 33 counties of New Mexico, and when you look for Spanish-speaking providers, the shortage is even worse,” she said. “Language access is key to patient safety and outcomes.”
Even students who spoke Spanish at home said the program gave them new tools to bridge language and culture in health care settings.
“Spanish is my native language,” Moran Olivas said. “But I still learned a lot—how to explain medical terms clearly, how to listen better, how to talk in a way patients understand.”
And for those starting from scratch?
“We had a classmate who didn’t know any Spanish when she got here,” Estrada-Rivera said. “Now she’s fluent and leading care in a Spanish-speaking clinic. It’s possible.”
The program is optional, but both students encouraged others to give it a try.
“Some people are scared of making mistakes,” Moran Olivas said. “But this is a safe space to practice. The more you learn now, the better care you can give later.”
“We’re here for the patients,” she said. “It’s our job to meet them where they are. Language is a big part of that.”
As the program continues to expand, Plaza said alumni engagement will be essential.
“We warmly invite UNM School of Medicine alumni to join us — whether by serving as guest instructors, mentoring students, or contributing through the UNM Foundation,” she said. “Your involvement strengthens our shared commitment to advancing health and healthcare across the state.”
Learn more about the program and how to opt in here.
Kandace Donaldson is an Academic Communications Specialist, University of New Mexico School of Medicine.
