Office of Student Affairs
Medical Spanish
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Professor of Physiology |
Recognizing the demand for bilingual health care professionals, the School of Medicine offers Medical Spanish as an elective course for credit to first and second year medical students. The 10-week class – offered each semester at the beginning, intermediate and advanced levels – helps physicians communicate with Hispanic patients who are not fluent in English. To receive credit, students must take 40 weeks of Medical Spanish and must complete 80 hours of practical experience.
Medical Spanish covers everything from basic anatomy and infectious diseases to providing care in emergency room situations. Topics include "Parts of the body," "Greetings and polite expression," and "The compliment." Beginners use the textbook "Que Paso? – An English-Spanish Guide for Medical Personnel," while intermediate students work on grammar. Advanced students participate in extensive conversation practice using medical terms and settings.
Medical Spanish was developed by Hugo Gonzalez-Serratos, MD, PhD, Professor of Physiology. "One of my goals was to teach medical students culturally competent practical skills for them to be able to interview our growing number of Spanish speaking patients and their families," says Dr. Gonzalez, who leads the team of bi-lingual course instructors.
By the end of the course students should be able to initiate and maintain conversations in Spanish, interview Spanish speaking patients in their own language and know and understand the cultural differences that affect the way physicians and patients communicate. Medical Spanish students are preferentially assigned to clinics and practices with Spanish speaking patients for their 4th year area health education center rotation.
"In addition to the obvious benefits to Latino patients and their families, medical students with bilingual ability are attractive to prospective employers," says Donna L. Parker, MD, associate dean for Student Affairs. "In states such as California, Texas and Florida, the ability to speak Spanish is almost a job requirement."
For more information about Medical Spanish please contact Valerie Reynolds, Coordinator
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