Comprehensive Advanced Medical Program of Spanish celebrates 20 years

Last month, the UNC School of Medicine celebrated the 20 year anniversary of its Comprehensive Advanced Medical Program of Spanish, a program designed to improve health care quality for Latino communities across North Carolina.

CAMPOS was established in 2004 with the support of a grant from the Duke Endowment in collaboration with the Hispanic Health Initiatives. Since its inception, CAMPOS has worked to address the critical need for culturally and linguistically competent physicians for the growing number of Latino patients. 

Dr. Dan Reuland, co-founder of the program, said CAMPOS was founded in response to the rapidly-increasing Latino immigrant population in North Carolina. According to the Office of State Budget and Management, the Hispanic population has been the fastest growing demographic in the state since the 1990s.

Reuland said at the time, the health care system was heavily reliant on interpreters.

“We didn’t have the staff or the doctors that spoke Spanish,” Reuland said.

CAMPOS offers an elective pathway where each year, 25-30 students with intermediate to advanced Spanish skills train to care for Spanish-speaking patients. This includes Spanish language classes tailored to medical terminology and community outreach experiences.

 “This is all about communicating with patients in not only their language but also their cultural preferences,” Dr. Marco Alemán, the current CAMPOS director, said.

Alemán said the program adapted its curriculum over time to address evolving health care needs, shifting from a language-focused curriculum to an experience-based program involving case-based learning and volunteer work​.

“I've had students from many years ago, still, even now, they say, I really chose UNC because of CAMPOS,” Alemán said. 

Kira Griffith, a fourth-year master's student in CAMPOS, said the program has helped her feel like a part of a smaller community within the UNC medical program.

“It’s really dedicated to helping ensure we have medical students and physicians who are equipped to speak Spanish with patients and help ensure that these patients really feel heard and understood,” Griffith said. 

Students in the program also gain hands-on experience by participating in volunteer work within Spanish-speaking communities. For Griffith, one memorable experience was providing COVID-19 and vaccination education to migrant farm workers, she said that speaking with them and hearing their stories was very impactful.

The impact of CAMPOS extends beyond the University, with Alemán saying that 385 graduates work nationwide, practicing across specialties including family medicine, pediatrics and surgery. 

Looking forward, Alemán said he hopes to expand the program’s impact by enhancing community service projects and creating new assessment tools to help more accurately evaluate bilingual proficiency in clinical settings. Alemán also said the School of Medicine hopes to adopt a national model for certifying Spanish-speaking providers, which he said would make UNC a leading school in certifying physicians as bilingual and bicultural practitioners.

Griffith said she feels CAMPOS has given her a well-rounded approach to patient care.

“I applied because I really felt that to provide the best care to the patients that I'm going to be serving, I needed to invest that time in educating myself and learning more about the culture and language of the people,” she said.

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