Medical Spanish

The Medical Spanish elective, beginning in the first year, helps students become fluent with medical terms to communicate with Spanish-speaking patients, a population that is increasing demographically. Some students take Medical Spanish to prepare for "away electives" in Spanish-speaking countries.

Currently there are three levels of the elective:

• Medical Spanish I: primarily in English; proper pronunciation an use of common expressions; exposure to basic Spanish medical terminology and culture, and awareness of culture in daily interactions with patients and others.
• Medical Spanish II: in English and Spanish; additional vocabulary, Spanish medical terminology and cultural exposure; more facility with the language to communicate with patients and their families.
• Medical Spanish III: almost totally in Spanish; greater conversational skills to discuss symptoms, treatments and expected outcomes with patients and family members; familiarity with dialects, idioms, accents and refining previous knowledge.