Upcoming Courses

SPANISH FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS



Spanish speakers are fast becoming a "majority minority" in this country and savvy professionals are becoming aware that speaking Spanish enables them to effectively communicate with their patients or clients and getting their jobs done with much more rewarding results for all parties.

This program is designed to promote Spanish competency in language as well as cultural awareness of the Spanish-speaking immigrant community through the use of video and numerous imaginative interactive exercises. It integrates language development, health content, and cultural awareness to help health professionals and students to better communicate with their patients and clients.

The content in each unit is organized around specific health, language and cultural tasks, with grammar and vocabulary addressed “in context”. Exercises are centered around real-world health tasks.

Since there is more to language than words, this program also offers a comprehensive approach to learning a foreign language by helping you understand the message beyond the words being said.

The table below includes an illustrative example of the health issues and tasks addressed in the program:

HEALTH ISSUES
HEALTH TASKS
  • Diabetes
  • Nutrition
  • Wellness
  • Alternative health practices
  • Diet and exercise
  • High risk pregnancy
  • Domestic violence
  • Child health
  • Immunization
  • HIV
  • Mental health
  • Substance abuse in adolescents
  • Workplace accidents
  • Informed Consent
  • Physical examination
  • Discussing alternative health practices
  • Establishing a climate of trust
  • Conducting the prenatal intake exam
  • Dealing with HIV treatment issues and prevention
  • Giving bad news across language and culture
  • Assessing mental health
  • Working with adolescents
  • Developing respectful provider/patient relationships


LANGUAGE IN CONTEXT

This program will help you practice Spanish in context, which means that as you work with vocabulary and grammar, you will stay connected to other aspects of language that also carry meaning: where the conversation is taking place, who is speaking, the physical state of the speakers, the gestures that accompany the words, what happened earlier in the conversation, the purpose of this exchange, and so on.

SELF-MONITORING

This program will help you become more aware of the process of language acquisition and your own habits of learning and communicating.

Learners find it useful to see the language they’re learning "deconstructed". As we take the structures apart describe how they function, and guide you through the exercises that put them back together in a meaningful context, you will learn to “monitor” your own speech production.

CULTURE

Culture is an important tool in understanding language. This program will bring you closer to the Spanish language spoken in the United States by immigrants who have little or no command of English. This population is varied and changing. Geographic origin, educational level, social class, age, time in the United States, and living conditions are some of the many factors that can influence the type of Spanish you’ll hear. It’s wonderful to know that these variants are still mutually intelligible, and with time and a sharp ear, you’ll learn to recognize the clues that tell you so many things about your patients and clients.

METHODOLOGY

  • Memorizing is important in the process of learning a language. It gives you the building blocks for structures and helps you “monitor” your performance.
  • Drills help your mind get used to things and make connections between them. “Practice makes perfect”, they say, and regular brief practice is better than long spurts of practice followed by long droughts of forgetting.
  • Applying what you learn to your personal environment keeps your knowledge current and accessible and strengthens your language performance. To speak a language well you have to continue working with it, much in the way that you keep any skill sharp. Knowing why one is doing something helps to connect the immediate action to others that went before, motivating performance and improving the outcome.