Communicating Medical Information for Patients

UF Faculty: Maria Laura Mecias Department: Spanish and Portuguese College: College of Liberal Arts and Sciences	Partner Faculty: Sergio Iván Galvis Motoa Department: Computer Engineering Partner Institution: Universidad Católica de Colombia	Partner Faculty: Nancy Segura Azuara Department: Medical Sciences Partner Institution: Tecnológico de Monterrey México	Partner Faculty: José Miguel Hinojosa-Lezama Department: Medical Sciences Partner Institution: Tecnológico de Monterrey México

Project details
Title:	Communicating Medical Information for Patients through Mobile Applications
Project Description:	This virtual exchange project brings together medical students from Tecnológico de Monterrey (Mexico), undergraduate students preparing for health careers at the University of Florida (USA), and computer engineering students from the Catholic University of Colombia. Collaborating across disciplines and cultures, participants will design an Android mobile application to promote community awareness of chronic renal diseases. Throughout the project, students will strengthen their language and intercultural communication skills by creating app content that translates complex medical topics into clear, accessible language for patients, in both Spanish and English.
Learning Outcomes:	Career-Readiness Oriented Project Goals Develop professional communication skills in Spanish and English. Practice explaining healthcare information clearly, asking questions to clarify details, and presenting accurate information—skills you will use with patients, colleagues, and interdisciplinary teams in your future career. Collaborate effectively in interdisciplinary and international teams. Work with future doctors and engineers from Mexico and Colombia, share responsibilities, contribute to team decisions, and solve real-world problems together—skills that prepare you for teamwork and collaboration in professional healthcare settings. Apply intercultural awareness to healthcare projects.Understand and respect cultural differences, adapt messages for diverse audiences, and learn from international perspectives—skills that enhance your ability to provide culturally competent care and work in global professional environments. Translate complex medical information into clear, patient-friendly materials. Create bilingual educational content for patients with renal illnesses, ensuring it is accurate and understandable—skills that build professional confidence, expertise, and credibility in patient education and health communication.
Participating Countries:	Colombia, Mexico
Number of Participants:	25 UF Students; appx 40 with Tecnológico de Monterrey (Mexico) and Catholic University of Colombia
Discipline:	World Languages
UF Course Code & Name:	SPN3036 - Spanish for Healthcare Professionals
Project Duration:	12 weeks
Activity Type(s):	Student-to-Student Dialogue Student-to-Student Project
Time allotted to each activity:	Synchronous: 0.25 hours/week Asynchronous: 0.5 hours/week
Technology Tools:	Canvas Microsoft Office Teams Padlet Google Forms/Qualtrics Google Docs WhatsApp Powerpoint Canva
Sequence of Activities:	Icebreaker: Icebreaker activities were designed to foster trust, social presence, and intercultural awareness among students from the U.S., Mexico, and Colombia. Students first introduced themselves through short video presentations on Padlet, sharing personal interests and professional goals. Later icebreakers included culturally oriented activities (e.g., singing a short excerpt of a song associated with a partner’s country), encouraging creativity, humor, and cultural curiosity while reducing anxiety before collaborative work began. Engagement Activity: The main engagement activity involved co-designing a bilingual mobile application aimed at educating patients about chronic renal disease. Students actively engaged by discussing medical content, negotiating language choices, asking clarification questions across disciplines, and adapting information for patient-friendly communication in Spanish and English. Engagement was sustained through structured VE sessions, guided prompts, and milestone-based deliverables. Collaboration Activity: Collaboration occurred in interdisciplinary and international teams composed of healthcare-focused students, medical students, and engineering students. Teams worked together to divide roles, make joint decisions, and integrate medical accuracy, linguistic clarity, and technical feasibility into the app design. Collaboration was supported through synchronous meetings, shared documents, and continuous peer communication, emphasizing respectful negotiation, accountability, and teamwork across cultures and disciplines. Reflection Activity: Reflection was embedded throughout the project through phase-based surveys and final written reflections. Students reflected on successes and challenges related to communication, teamwork, intercultural awareness, and professional Spanish confidence. Prompts encouraged students to provide concrete examples from their collaboration and to connect their experiences to career-readiness skills using frameworks such as the STAR method, supporting metacognitive awareness and professional growth.