=========================== JeffNEWS, November 15, 1994 =========================== Jefferson Students `Bridge the Gaps' for Chinese Community ---------------------------------------------------------- As future doctors, Roy Park and Dona Tang believe it's their duty to help others in need. In their second year as medical students at Jefferson Medical College, the duo say they have found a way to use their studies to assist Chinese-speaking people in the Philadelphia area. "Bridging the Gaps" is a Jefferson program for students aimed at assessing the medical needs of the surrounding community and proposing solutions. Roy and Dona are trying to bridge the emergency care gap for the Chinese community. "A lot of people there feel uncomfortable asking for medical help because they can't speak the language," says Dona. "I grew up in the city's Chinatown, still have relatives there, and I feel obligated to help." "Our first task was to do a health assessment of the situation," adds Roy. "It didn't take long to figure out something needed to be done to bridge the communication gap." Roy and Dona discovered Chinese-speaking city residents wouldn't consider using the emergency room of the hospital because they couldn't explain to doctors what was wrong and were afraid to ask for help. "They would rather be in pain and risk their lives than go to the emergency room, and that's wrong," says Dona. "We hope our medical questionnaire, developed as a result of the program, will change that way of thinking." The questionnaire Dona refers to will be given to Chinese-speaking people as they enter the emergency room. Yes and no questions on a prepared form are written in Chinese, but have an English language duplicate attached underneath. After it is filled out, the nurse or doctor lifts the top page written in Chinese to read the English translation. The questions are the same questions asked of any patient entering the emergency room. For example: Are you having chest pains? Are you short of breath? Do you take any medicines? "It's such a simple solution for such a critical problem," says Roy. "We hope to write questionnaires in all languages for all emergency rooms nationwide to help everyone get the medical help they need." "We only scratched the surface," says Dona. "There's so much more that needs to be done, but at least this questionnaire can make a difference in emergency situations." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Information provided by: Editor, JeffNEWS (215) 955-6204 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------