Client Success
   Erica Bellis
   Cara Kettler & Aaron Daniel
   David LaChance
   Janet Poweski

Cara Kettler & Aaron Daniel

Cara Kettler MD, and her husband, Aaron Daniel MD, graduated from the University of Michigan. They chose the University of Rochester Medical Center for their residencies, Cara is specializing in general pediatrics, with a focus on community involvement and health advocacy, and Aaron in pediatrics and internal medicine. They liked the Rochester program, and as outdoor sports enthusiasts, the local bicycle trails and cross-country skiing.

Cara had learned the Spanish language in high school, and continued during her undergraduate degree. Her enthusiasm for the people and the language grew as she visited the Dominican Republic and Cuba. Aaron had not studied Spanish at school, but was keen to learn more of the language and culture, to share Cara’s interest and to communicate better with Spanish-speaking patients and families. They heard of the Spanish for Health Care Professionals Level III, Immersion Experience in Puerto Rico, through a Center for Lifelong Learning (now Edvantage) mailing.

The course is designed to improve Spanish communication and cultural skills of health care professionals. It starts with a class in Rochester that highlights barriers to care and disparities in the health of Spanish-speaking people. The group then traveled to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where they were paired with Spanish-speaking health providers, working side-by-side in patient care. The visited a different hospital or clinic every day or half-day, including the University Hospital, an outreach clinic, a general clinic, and specialized outreach organizations for children, older people, battered women, and HIV-positive people. They found the health care system virtually identical to that of the United States, but with interesting variations. Conversations with patients are usually conducted in Spanish, but the medical record is invariably written in English, for example. The instructor, Charlotte Torres, a professor at the School of Nursing, made sure that the students had a little time off, so that they could visit the rainforest, a waterfall, a bioluminescent bay, and several restaurants.

Cara’s residency is fast drawing to a close, while Aaron has one more year to complete. Cara has found her Spanish immediately useful in the pediatric primary care clinic she has run for one afternoon each week at Rochester General Hospital. She is characteristically modest, but Aaron says that her Hispanic patients love her, and appreciate the care and respect she shows by communicating in their language. Interpreters are often unavailable, and doctors must frequently rely on telephone interpreters—a partial solution at best. Aaron enjoys catching up with fellow students, whom he occasionally runs into at the hospital, including nurses, technicians, and a chaplain.

“Our trip to Puerto Rico was a wonderful opportunity to learn more about other people and other cultures,” Aaron said, “It made us a little bit better as doctors and a little more worldly as people.” “Overall, it was a fantastic experience!” they both agreed.

Cara and Aaron plan to eventually establish a practice near Ann Arbor, Michigan. They very much look forward to working with the local Hispanic community.