Opening New Doors in Global Health Professions Education
This month, AMEE reached an exciting milestone: our first-ever Spanish-language webinar, El futuro de la Educación Médica Continua usando Inteligencia Artificial Generativa, was a resounding success. With over 200 engaged participants, countless questions, and simultaneously translated captions, it marked the beginning of a new era for AMEE, one that embraces multilingual education as a way to connect with and support our diverse global community.
This event was the first in a series of Spanish-language activities leading up to AMEE 2025 in Barcelona and the launch of a broader multilingual initiative. Read on for an inside look at how we planned this event, what we learned, and what’s coming next. And if you’re considering organising a multilingual event yourself, make sure to check out our top tips at the end!
The Inspiration: Turning Conversations into Action
The idea for this webinar was born from a conversation at AMEE 2024 about how to make our resources more accessible to educators worldwide. AMEE’s commitment to inclusivity is strong—we support health professions educators at all career stages, across all disciplines, and in all regions. However, language remains a significant barrier. With members in over 130 countries speaking more than 69 languages, we recognised that we had both the need and the opportunity to expand our reach by offering events in multiple languages.
Starting Small, Thinking Big
We decided to start with Spanish-language content linked to our upcoming conference in Barcelona. Generative AI was a natural choice for our first webinar. It’s a hot topic, ensuring strong interest, and we were fortunate to have AMEE CPD Committee members Álvaro Margolis and Sofía Valanci volunteer as hosts.
To fully commit to our hispanohablante audience, we promoted the event exclusively in Spanish. We were prepared for a small turnout, understanding that the greater impact might come from the recorded session being added to our content bank. However, the response exceeded our expectations.
A Record-Breaking Response
Our average webinar registration ranges between 200-300, with 25-50% attending live, a strong engagement rate compared to the typical 10-15% for free webinars. As we promoted the event, registrations trickled in at first, then surged as our outreach reached communities across Latin America and Spain.
The final count? A record-breaking 495 registrations! Over 90% came from Spanish-speaking countries, including Spain, Uruguay, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and the Dominican Republic, with additional attendees from Ecuador, Guatemala, Peru, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Andorra. This overwhelming response confirmed what we had suspected, there is a significant demand for content in languages other than English.
The Power of Multilingual Engagement
sharing insights in their native language, leading to more meaningful conversations. As one participant noted:
“Me encantó que fuera en español, en ocasiones la limitante del idioma obstaculiza el uso correcto de las herramientas tecnológicas.” (“I loved that it was in Spanish. Sometimes, language limitations hinder the proper use of technological tools.”)
By embracing multilingual education, AMEE is not only broadening its reach but also enhancing the quality of its interactions with the global medical education community.
What’s Next? Expanding AMEE’s Multilingual Offerings
This webinar was just the beginning. The success of our Spanish-language event has opened the door to more multilingual opportunities:
- Upcoming Spanish Webinar in May: “AI Agents: The Revolution in Health Professions Education”
- Global Conversation for Spanish-speaking Members: A networking space for deeper discussions
- Spanish-language Track at AMEE 2025 in Barcelona: A dedicated space for Spanish-language presentations and discussions
- Expanding to Other Languages in 2025-2026: We hope to offer webinars in multiple languages- interested in presenting? Let us know!
We also successfully trialled simultaneously translated captions, which worked seamlessly and hold the potential to foster cross-cultural exchange and collaboration.
Want to Get Involved?
We’re excited about this new chapter for AMEE and would love your input. If you have ideas for future multilingual webinars or would like to present in a language other than English, we want to hear from you!
Email us at [email protected] to propose a session.
Sign up for our mailing list to stay updated on upcoming multilingual events- visit the footer of our website to subscribe!
Share your language-learning journey! Have you navigated language barriers in medical education? Tell us your story in the comments or on social media under this post!
Together, we can build a truly global, inclusive, and accessible AMEE community. We can’t wait to see where this journey takes us next!