Medical Spanish Programs

[bkflaneur]

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Can anyone recommend a program in Central or South America for learning Spanish? I'm in my 4th year, and would like to spend a month somewhere this spring. Apparently some people from my med school have gotten credit here: http://www.isls.com/schools/medicalspanish.cfm. But I haven't been able to find any first hand reviews. Thanks for the help!

 

[slowlybutshelly]

I am wondering what the difference might be in going to a specified medical spanish program like the one listed above versus just going to a regular spanish intensive training course.

The reason that I am asking is that I have a friend (RPCV Mali) that went recently to a program South America to learn spanish for a month. She said that you can go for a month at a time, progress to a certain level, get a certificate showing what level you were at. Then you could go back and start at that level and progress forward again.

I think this is a great idea because sometimes when a person learns a language they just need refresher courses over time to keep up the language fluency.

I learned Swahili in East Africa and I wish there were such programs (outside Peace Corps training) that would be designed for this in other languages besides Spanish.

 

[kemper6036]

UAG in guadalajara has a program i believe. not sure if i'd be banging down the door to go to mexico now a days though

 

[krs881]

I really wouldn't worry about your safety in mexico, unless you are a drug trafficker or a mexican security official. TJ and Ciudad Juarez will shake you up if you aren't used to seeing tanks and soldiers in the town you live in. But no one's looking to hurt people not in the game. There are isolated incidents, it's a huge country. People go to the doctor, get sick, get well... life goes on despite horrible news reports in the U.S. and the sick behaviors fueled by drug trafficking.

 

[kemper6036]

go for it then....i'll stick to practicing my crappy spanish on my pts. hopefully i'll get better without going down there

 

[Fiddlestick]

If you don't need credit for the course then you can do one with Work the World before starting their elective course in Argentina. Its based in Mendoza I think.

 

[babel]

I have the same question as the OP - anyone have any new thoughts on reputable medical spanish programs? I am an MSIV and am looking to do ~1mo in the spring, right before graduation. I don't need it for credit, though I would think that stronger programs would have a history of that. Also, given that I am in my fourth year (and will be doing this just a month or two before internship) I'd really prefer a situation where I get to do something more than shadowing. I'm going into Peds, btw.

I tried contacting MedSpanish through their website 4-5 days ago, but haven't heard anything back yet.

 

[thepoopologist]

I did this program during the World Cup this past summer: www.ecela.com

Went to
Chile: Santiago
Argentina: Buenos Aires
Peru: Lima, Cusco

Over a period of six weeks. I didn't do medical spanish, although its offered in Santiago and I in fact met a second year there who was getting 1 month 4th year elective credit for learning it and shadowing at a clinic. I also met a lot of Koreans from Samsung and this other telecom company who'd been sent there to learn it for a year.

I went from knowing absolutely no Spanish at all to being able to participate in short, informal conversations with people. I think the biggest benefit, aside from traveling around, was tuning my ear up to hearing the actual language spoken by native speakers.

I wish I could've stayed longer. I was so depressed when I had to come back to start second year. Anyway it's been four months and while my speaking has deteriorated a bit since I don't ever do it anymore, there are a lot of spanish speakers in clinic and it's pretty awesome to at least understand what they're talking about.

I will absolutely be going back my fourth year. It's one of the best things I've ever done.

 

[Perrotfish]

I did this program during the World Cup this past summer: www.ecela.com

Went to
Chile: Santiago
Argentina: Buenos Aires
Peru: Lima, Cusco

Over a period of six weeks. I didn't do medical spanish, although its offered in Santiago and I in fact met a second year there who was getting 1 month 4th year elective credit for learning it and shadowing at a clinic. I also met a lot of Koreans from Samsung and this other telecom company who'd been sent there to learn it for a year.

I went from knowing absolutely no Spanish at all to being able to participate in short, informal conversations with people. I think the biggest benefit, aside from traveling around, was tuning my ear up to hearing the actual language spoken by native speakers.

I wish I could've stayed longer. I was so depressed when I had to come back to start second year. Anyway it's been four months and while my speaking has deteriorated a bit since I don't ever do it anymore, there are a lot of spanish speakers in clinic and it's pretty awesome to at least understand what they're talking about.

I will absolutely be going back my fourth year. It's one of the best things I've ever done.

I did the same program a few years back. The program in general was great and I would recommend it to anyone.

 

[thepoopologist]

I did the same program a few years back. The program in general was great and I would recommend it to anyone.

I went on your recommendation here actually. I just wish I had had a long enough break to become fluent.

 

[Perrotfish]

I went on your recommendation here actually. I just wish I had had a long enough break to become fluent.

Wow, glad you liked it then.