Spanish for Health Care Professionals

Span 0144, 0 credits
September 7–December 14, 2004 (15 class sessions)
Tuesdays 6:30 p.m.–8:35 p.m.
14 Folwell Hall
http://www.idl.umn.edu/Span 0144/home.html
Instructor: María Emilce López
Department: Spanish and Portuguese Studies
Office: Folwell Hall 5B, 9 Pleasant St. SE, Minneapolis
Office Hours: Tuesdays 5:45–6:15 p.m. and by appointment
E-mail: lopez008@umn.edu

Course Description

Welcome to Spanish 0144! This course is designed to help health care providers communicate with Spanish-speaking patients and be more sensitive and aware of cultural differences.

You will learn:

• Basic medical vocabulary
• Questions and answers in common medical situations
• Vocabulary and phrases to conduct patient interviews and medical history
• Vocabulary and conversation to conduct physical exams
• To understand the Latin American view of health and health care

Prerequisite Information

One year college Spanish or equivalent

Required Materials

• González-Lee, Teresa, & Simon, Harold J. Medical Spanish: Interviewing the Latino Patient—A Cross -Cultural Perspective. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1990. [Abbreviated CT in the schedule below]
• Herrera McElroy & Lola L. Grabb. Spanish-English/English-Spanish Medical Dictionary. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 1996.
• 2 CD-ROMs. [Abbreviated CD-ROM in the schedule below]
• WebCT information will be distributed at beginning of the course. [Abbreviated WebCT in the schedule below]

Student Performance Objectives

• Be able to participate in basic conversations
• Learn basic medical vocabulary
• Ask questions and understand responses to common medical situations
• Learn how to conduct patient interviews, medical histories and physical exams in Spanish
• Understand cultural factors that impact health and view of health of Latin American patients

Expectations

In class: Active participation.

Individual work: WebCT activities and use of CD-ROM materials to explore and analyze different perspectives and situations related to health and health care of the Chicano/Latino cummunity in Minnesota in order to develop an appreciation for differences in culture. Class project.

Instructional Methods

Classroom Activities: Focus on learning and practicing communication and conversational skills including asking and responding to questions, discussion of culture and health, and learning and practicing vocabulary and grammar.

In-class activities will be supplemented with materials available on WebCT, CD-ROMs, and from other sources. These activities will concentrate on watching and listening to interviews of health care providers who work with Spanish speakers, and interactions in the target language between doctors and patients, in order to develop a better understanding of cultural aspects.

¿Sabías que. . .?

The Minnesota State Demographic Center estimates that the Hispanic (Latino) population in Minnesota is increasing rapidly; between 1990 and 2020, the estimate of growth is 178 percent for the Latino population, compared with 15.5 percent overall for Minnesota. The 2000 census showed that the Latino population jumped 166 percent to 143,000, the largest percentage jump for a minority group in Minnesota, from 1990 to 2000. That's the ninth-fastest growth for Hispanics (Latinos) among the forty-seven states for which figures have been released (Star-Tribune, 2001).