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Objectives: Safe, high-quality healthcare depends on effective interprofessional collaboration, as miscommunication and poor teamwork remain major contributors to medical error [1]. Simultaneously, future health professionals engage in an international medical community and care for patients from increasingly diverse cultural backgrounds. Healthcare students must therefore develop interprofessional competencies, clinical English proficiency, and cultural sensitivity. Yet interprofessional collaboration and cultural competence are often taught separately and at a conceptual level [2]. This project introduced an interprofessional language course as an innovative response to this educational challenge.

Project description: An eight-session clinical English course was developed by a team of healthcare professionals with native speaker or advanced knowledge of medical English. The pilot cohort included students of midwifery, medicine, and dentistry. Sessions focused on patient-centred clinical communication. Culturally specific healthcare practices were highlighted and explored further in sessions on healthcare systems in English-speaking countries. Interactive formats – including debates, creative tasks, and role plays – fostered active participation. The course was voluntary and ungraded.

Results: Forty students (20 midwifery, 18 medical, 2 dentistry) participated in the course, which was rated as “outstanding” by 95% and “highly relevant to their clinical training” by 79% of participants. Students reported that the relaxed setting allowed them to express insecurities when communicating in a foreign language. In addition to improved clinical English skills, participants described greater interest in culturally sensitive care as well as enhanced understanding of other professions and fewer role-related assumptions. In 2024, the teaching team received the “teacher of the year award” from the Medical Faculty of the University of Freiburg.

Discussion: By confronting the insecurities inherent in communicating in a foreign language, students gained valuable insight into the experiences of international patients and colleagues. This perspective enabled students to develop empathy for communication barriers, while reflection on cultural norms and healthcare system structures encouraged comprehension of culturally influenced expectations in healthcare. Furthermore, the shared experience of vulnerability within an interprofessional group reduced hierarchical distance, strengthened mutual trust, and challenged role-related stereotypes that often persist in clinical settings.

Take-home messages:

• Implementing an interprofessional language learning course to foster collaborative and culturally sensitive healthcare is effective.
• Integrating language acquisition and cultural reflection offers students an international orientation of their education.
• Relaxed interprofessional learning environments allow students to engage with vulnerability, and reduce professional stereotypes.

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