Any good medical Spanish programs?

[ero87]

Hi friends,

I'll be going to Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in 2009 or 2010 (i'm doing the Humanities and Medicine Program), which is located in Spanish Harlem. I think it's important that I develop some Spanish skills, for med school and afterwards. I'm taking Basic Spanish now (I'm a Junior), but I want to get better.

Does anyone know of any good Spanish immersion programs in a Hispanic country? One that has a Medical-Spanish focus would be phenomenal.

Thanks so much!

-Ellis

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[blondie08]

check out Child and Family Health International... chfi.org
they have some great programs for pre-meds that allow you to learn about medicine in other cultures first hand, and learn spanish!

 

[ero87]

cool, thanks a lot.

any other ideaS?

 

[howdy2u]

Check out this site: http://www.globalhealth.arizona.edu/Medical_Spanish.html

 

[DeadCactus]

Check out this site: http://www.globalhealth.arizona.edu/Medical_Spanish.html

Interesting; they list Cuba. Wonder if US students can actually go...

 

[funkydrmonkey]

My friend did this great volunteering program where he actually shadowed doctors in Ecuador, and it taught him spanish and medical spanish, because he said there was no one there that he could speak english with.

 

[bth7]

Hi friends,

I'll be going to Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in 2009 or 2010 (i'm doing the Humanities and Medicine Program), which is located in Spanish Harlem. I think it's important that I develop some Spanish skills, for med school and afterwards. I'm taking Basic Spanish now (I'm a Junior), but I want to get better.

Does anyone know of any good Spanish immersion programs in a Hispanic country? One that has a Medical-Spanish focus would be phenomenal.

Thanks so much!

-Ellis

Three programs I've used:

Proyecto Linguistico (their Mountain School is a life-changing experience)
Pop-Wuj (has medical-specific program, with clinical experience integrated)
Nebaj Did a 3 day guided hike with this group, amazing! Very remote, un-westernized area of Guatemala.

Guatemala is a wonderful country to spend time in.

Enjoy!

bth7

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

Hi friends,

I'll be going to Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in 2009 or 2010 (i'm doing the Humanities and Medicine Program), which is located in Spanish Harlem. I think it's important that I develop some Spanish skills, for med school and afterwards. I'm taking Basic Spanish now (I'm a Junior), but I want to get better.

Does anyone know of any good Spanish immersion programs in a Hispanic country? One that has a Medical-Spanish focus would be phenomenal.

Thanks so much!

-Ellis

If you can't do an overseas Spanish immersion program (which would be fantastic), take some regular Spanish courses and worry about learning medical terminology later. I would guess that the average Spanish-speaking patient would prefer a translator over a physician who is just barking single-word anatomical terms with an accent that could freeze blood. Get some conversational skills so that you can greet your patients properly and then you can self-study a lot of terminology after you've already mastered basic pronunciation rules. Spanish is a relatively simple language with few irregularities and it's a joy to learn. "Medical Spanish" courses teach simple phrases and tons of terminology with no emphasis at all on actually speaking the language - I'd steer clear.

Spending time in Spanish Harlem may help you more than any overseas program. I've taken multiple years of Spanish - in high school and then again while I was doing my medical school pre-reqs to refresh my memory (I'm an older non-trad). The problem I have is that all of my teachers were South American. I'm told I have a very nice accent with a lot of Columbian highlands in it. But, to be effective in the Spanish-speaking communites of the U.S. (at least in the Southwest, which is all I'm familiar with), you need to have some exposure to "Spanglish" and the local slang that prevails.

 

[elderjack21]

Interesting; they list Cuba. Wonder if US students can actually go...

http://www.cubatravelexperts.com/faq01.html