• About the Office 
• Overview
• Lecture Schedule
• Global Health Fair
• Local Involvement
• Faculty
• International Health Interest Group - IHIG 
• About IHIG
• Student Experiences
• Lecture Schedule
• IHIG Electives
• Contact Information
• International Health Courses
• International Health
  Travel 
• About International Health Travel
• Reasons to Travel
• Our Programs
• Other Programs
• Travel Requirements
• Preparing for Your Trip
• Global Health Elective
• Independent Projects
• SATHI Program
• Medical Spanish Course
• Medical Mandarin Course
• Contact Us

Medical Spanish Course

Medical Spanish Non-Credit Elective

Through the use of interactive small group classes, community service opportunities and cultural competency lectures, the Medical Spanish Non-Credit Elective is designed to give medical students an opportunity to learn and practice many of the expressions, common questions and answers, and terminology used when interacting with Spanish speaking patients.  The overall goal is to improve medical students’ conversation for use in medical interviewing and patient communication.

Throughout the academic year, the course offers 10 small group sessions (1.5  hours/session), lectures on proper use of a medical interpreter and Latino culture, and community service experiences.

Eligible participants:
This course is only open to medical students.

Enrollment:
Enrollment is done electronically. Email notices will be sent to the class listserves about the informational session and course registration process.

Classroom Sessions:
The Medical Spanish classes are divided into 4 levels of fluency: Beginner, Intermediate- Low & High, and Advanced.  The Beginner and Intermediate levels consist of small group didactic and interactive role-playing classes to maximize students’ potential to learn key concepts. The Advance level curriculum is primarily interactive role-playing with concepts commonly used in a clinical setting. Each level is taught by a Medical Spanish instructor and has a maximum class size of 25 students.

Objectives:
At the end of the course, participants will be able to:

1. Translate basic anatomy from English to Spanish, and vise versa.

2. Initiate conversation with Spanish speaking patients.

3. Apply medical Spanish terminology to obtain a basic history and facilitate performance of a physical              examination of patients.

4. Advocate use of a qualified interpreter when the encounter goes beyond the student’s level of understanding.

5. Discuss cultural practices and health beliefs unique to the Hispanic community.

6. Discuss the Office for Civil Rights and other legal guidelines for physicians caring for the Limited English Proficient Patient.

Credit Requirements:
Students who successfully fulfill the requirements will receive a notation of completion on their academic transcript.

To receive credit for the course, participants must fulfill the following by May 31:
1. Complete 10 out of 12 classroom/lecture sessions.

2. Participate in 2 community service events that serve patients whose primary language is Spanish.

Faculty Advisor, Dr. Sonia Laumbach, email (sgarcia@ rwjms.rutgers.edu)
Program Coordinator, Cynthia Ferrer-Cespedes

Link to Medical Spanish course here.

Link to 4^th year electives: here.

Information for clinical exchange program in Universidad San Francisco de Quito Ecuador