Taking Spanish during P4 year

[Nottingham]

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Is taking Spanish 101 online during rotations doable? I was a French student in high school and don't speak a lick of Spanish. I'm interested in ambulatory care after graduation, and subsquently several of my rotations are amb. care clinics in hispanic areas. I intend to learn Spanish eventually anyway, but is it worth getting a jump start now?

 

[ValeRx]

Spanish 101 will hardly be worth the effort. You'll be able to say hello, good bye and ask where the bathroom is.

 

[rxlea]

Take a conversational spanish class. Spanish 101 or 102 will not help you. does your school offer a medical spanish class? It's offered as elective here. I would ask if there is a medical spanish class available.

 

[EBT12]

Is taking Spanish 101 online during rotations doable? I was a French student in high school and don't speak a lick of Spanish. I'm interested in ambulatory care after graduation, and subsquently several of my rotations are amb. care clinics in hispanic areas. I intend to learn Spanish eventually anyway, but is it worth getting a jump start now?

Time wise, I think it is totally doable. I've taken 10 graduate credits in both the fall and spring semesters this year while on rotations. I think one online intro class will definitely be fine.

 

[Nottingham]

No, my school does not offer medical spanish. I've done some research into other programs and all require either 2 years of high school spanish or one semester of college. At this point, the only words I know are yes, no, thank you and I can probably count to 6 only because of a certain Ricky Martin song (averting my eyes now).

My plan is to do the accelerated 101/maybe 102 online over the summer through my local community college and then look into something geared specifically towards health-care professionals. Does this sound like a reasonable plan of attack?

I also thought about Rosetta Stone, but I think I would do better in a structured class with set goals/deadlines.

 

[rxlea]

I'm telling you.... I took two years of Spanish and grew up in. a bilingual home. Spanish 101 and 102 will be useless. I'd sooner find a medical spanish class at community college or get the rosetta stone.

you are not going to learn much that will help you with patients in 101 or 102.

 

[IndustryPharmD]

Spanish 101 will hardly be worth the effort. You'll be able to say hello, good bye and ask where the bathroom is.

Depends on how much effort you put into it. Sure, out of almost 20 people in my Spanish class only two were able to communicate at all after one semester, but that's because all the rest didn't apply even the minimum effort.

I could only fit one semester of Spanish into my schedule when I was in school. Then several years later, when I moved to an area with significant Latino population, I watched a telenovela to refresh my Spanish. I am able to communicate with patients effectively enough, even over the phone. Nothing too complex, and I know that I butcher grammar and can only speak in present tense - but it is enough to understand the patients' concerns and to explain medications to them.

Of course, Spanish was not the first foreign language I ever learned nor even the second, which helped. 🙂

On the subject, though, rotations may or may not allow room for a regular class. Hours on some rotations can be unpredictable, too.

Advantage of medical Spanish programs is that they are short, usually 6-8 weeks. Though out of my classmates who took that, majority still couldn't say anything in Spanish... with languages, it's all about the effort you put in. Well, 90% at least.