Forest Hills — During a recent rotation for Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine, Awatef Ayesh was reminded how daunting it can be to translate complex medical jargon to a patient in a medical exam room — especially when the translator does not fully understand the terminology.
“We saw a lot of patients who don’t speak English, and so we often had to grab a translator,” said the 2018 Forest Hills Central graduate. “Even with a translator in the middle, it didn’t feel like you had that one-on-one interaction with the patient. It felt like someone was in the middle, and it was really hard to directly communicate with the patient.”
By studying medicine at MSU, Awatef and her younger sister, Ayah, a 2019 Forest Hills Central grad, hope to help break down the barriers many immigrants face when seeking medical care.
The sisters’ parents immigrated to the United States from the Palestinian territories in the late 1990s…