Spanish for Medical Professionals

Prepare for any situation by bridging the communication gap between you, your patients, and worried family members. This course provides knowledge of basic medical phrases to help you better communicate with the Spanish-speaking community.

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6 Weeks / 24 Course Hrs
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Florida State College at Jacksonville

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Spanish for Medical Professionals

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Course code: smp

What do you do if a patient needs your help, but you can't understand them? What if you encounter worried family members, but aren't able to reassure them that everything will be fine? Those in the medical field can easily find themselves in such situations, and you want to be prepared. Medical Spanish courses are the perfect solution. This simple and enjoyable Spanish for Medical Professionals course will give you the basic tools you need to bridge the communication gap.

With increasing numbers of Spanish-speaking patients entering the healthcare system every year, it's more crucial than ever for health professionals to learn medical Spanish. What's more, adding Spanish skills to your resume can broaden your career horizons and give you an advantage over other healthcare workers. This course skips the "touristy" topics and focuses on the basic medical Spanish phrases you really need to know in a medical setting. Whether you're new to the language or just want a refresher, this medical Spanish class can help you. ¡Vamos! (Let's go!)

What you will learn

  • Basic Spanish, such as numbers, colors, directions, names for family members, and verb conjugation.
  • Spanish words and phrases for parts of the body, common medical problems, tests and procedures, treatments, medications, and diets.
  • How to talk about time, make appointments, communicate feelings, and assess a patient's mental status.
  • Different strategies for dealing with children, adults, and pregnant patients.

How you will benefit

  • Gain a strong foundation in basic medical Spanish that is transferable to any part of the country.
  • Better communicate with your patients and their families.
  • Add a new skill to your resume that will open the door to more opportunity.
  • Build on your foundation with further education, such as our Spanish for Medical Professionals II course or our Speed Spanish series.

How the course is taught

  • Instructor-Moderated or Self-Guided online course
  • 6 Weeks or 3 Months access
  • 24 course hours

¡Bienvenidos! (Welcome!) In this lesson, you'll master the building blocks of Spanish. First, you'll discover how easy it is to spell and pronounce words en español. After that, you'll learn how to count from 0 to 19.

La familia is central to Latin American life, and family members play a key role in a patient's medical care as well. In this lesson, you'll learn the Spanish words for those family members, and pick up some handy phrases for conversing with patients and their families. In addition, the lesson will talk about pronouns and explore the role of gender in Spanish.

In this lesson, you'll power up your Spanish vocabulary by learning the words for colors and directions. In addition, you'll find out how to count all the way to 199—and you'll learn six handy prepositions to beef up your sentence-building power.

As a medical professional, you're always in action—so you'll want lots of action words in your Spanish repertoire! To help you master those verbs effortlessly, this lesson will introduce you to a super-simple conjugation system that uses only three tenses (present, easy past, and easy future). In addition, you'll look at two interesting verbs that mean "to be:" ser and estar.

In this lesson, you'll start zeroing in on the medical Spanish you need to know. You'll begin by taking a look at the parts of the body and learning the words for everything from teeth to toes. After that, you'll peek inside the body and study the internal organs. Finally, you'll delve into the Spanish vocabulary for common medical conditions.

These lessons cover pregnancy, labor, and delivery. Then, you'll move on to pediatrics and explore words related to young patients. Moving on to adults, you'll look at words for discussing cancer symptoms, tests, and treatments, and explore ways to assess the mental status of a patient. In addition, you'll look at Spanish words for various diets, and finally, you'll discover the little word "hay" and find out why it packs a powerful punch.

In an emergency, every second counts—and this lesson's vocabulary words can help you respond quickly in medical crises involving Spanish-speaking patients. In addition, you'll learn words for describing medical tests, treatments, and procedures, so you can inform and reassure patients receiving care in the emergency room. Finally, you'll look at terms you can use to talk with patients and their families about medications.

Most patients have routine symptoms and ailments, and in this lesson you'll add more words to your vocabulary for discussing these common medical problems. In addition, you'll look at words for instructing patients during a medical exam and then finish the lesson by expanding your toolkit of Spanish words with some new adjectives.

In this lesson, you'll visit the patient care floors and learn words for everything from bedpans to pillows to call buttons. You'll also discover lots of new words for talking about time and find out how to explain visiting hours to your Spanish-speaking patients. Finally, you'll explore words for feelings—something that will help you soothe patients when they're sad and celebrate with them when they're happy.

Patients are constantly coming and going—and that means it's a good idea to know Spanish words for admitting and discharging them! In this lesson, you'll learn a new set of verbs that will help you talk with patients when they're arriving or leaving. In addition, you'll look at words for talking about insurance and payments.

This lesson starts with a look at the youngest patients who visit a doctor's office or hospital: the ones who aren't even born yet. After learning about pregnancy, labor, and delivery, you'll move on to pediatrics and explore words for making your young patients and their parents feel informed and comfortable. As a bonus, the lesson will talk about words that'll get you out of a bind if you don't understand what a Spanish-speaking patient is saying.

In this lesson, you'll finish your journey through the ages and stages of life by learning about adult patients. You'll look at words for discussing cancer symptoms, tests, and treatments, and explore ways to assess the mental status of a patient en español. In addition, you'll look at Spanish words for all those diets your patients love so much: low-salt, low-fat, low-cholesterol, and more! Finally, you'll discover the little word "hay" and find out why it packs a powerful punch.

Tara Bradley Williams

Tara Bradley Williams has authored several Spanish textbooks and occupational Spanish reference guides, including the "¡A Conversar!" and "¡A Trabajar!" series. She taught Spanish and English as a Second Language at the high school and community college levels for over 10 years. She has also operated a Spanish language school and served as a medical interpreter. Tara has BA degrees in Spanish and Sociology from St. Norbert College and an MA in Higher Education and Adult Studies from the University of Denver. She has studied Spanish at the Universidad de Ortega y Gasset in Toledo, Spain and has lived and traveled extensively in Spain and Latin America.

Instructor Interaction: The instructor looks forward to interacting with learners in the online moderated discussion area to share their expertise and answer any questions you may have on the course content.

Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisites to take this course.

Requirements:

Hardware Requirements:

  • This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.

Software Requirements:

  • PC: Windows 8 or later.
  • Mac: macOS 10.6 or later.
  • Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader.
  • Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.

Other:

  • Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.

Instructional Material Requirements:

The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.

Instructor-Moderated: A new session of each course begins each month. Please refer to the session start dates for scheduling.​

Self-Guided: Your course begins immediately after you enroll.​

Instructor-Moderated: Once a course session starts, two lessons will be released each week for the 6 week duration of your course. You will have access to all previously released lessons until the course ends. You will interact with the instructor through the online discussion area. There are no live sessions or online meetings with the instructor.

Self-Guided: You have 3 months of access to the course. After enrolling, you can learn and complete the course at your own pace, within the allotted access period. You will have the opportunity to interact with other students in the online discussion area.

Instructor-Moderated: The interactive discussion area for each lesson automatically closes two weeks after each lesson is released, so you're encouraged to complete each lesson within two weeks of its release. However, you will have access to all lessons from the time they are released until the course ends.​

Self-Guided: There is no time limit to complete each lesson, other than completing all lessons within the allotted access period. Discussion areas for each lesson are open for the entire duration of the course.

Instructor-Moderated: Students enrolled in a six-week online class benefit from a one-time, 10-day extension for each course. No further extensions can be provided beyond these 10 days.​

Self-Guided: Because this course is self-guided, no extensions will be granted after the start of your enrollment.

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