SCSK 513 Medical Spanish for Health Care Professionals

This one-credit selective, which will meet once a week for the entire term, is designed primarily to meet the needs of medical students who anticipate contact with Spanish-speaking patients in their future. In the United States, particularly, it has become an absolute necessity for health care providers to have at least a minimal understanding of the Spanish language in order to reduce frustrations stemming from the lack of ability to communicate with the nation’s fastest-growing non-English speaking group. In addition to the significant lack of control that health care providers feel at not being in command of the language of their patients, the predicament of non-English speaking patients in need of medical care is of crucial concern as well. The course, which will be offered at the University’s main campus, will provide students with a basic introduction to Spanish grammar and sentence structure, as well as an overview of vocabulary for specific medical purposes. Students will be expected to have had some exposure to Spanish language instruction, as well as be in good academic standing in order for the more specialized medical instruction to be beneficial. The course will cover such topics as emergency medicine, a visit to the family practitioner, basic anatomy, and dealing with sensitive cultural issues.