Medical Spanish Immersion and Training Programs for Health Professionals

The need for Spanish-speaking medical professionals is increasing. A Medical Spanish course can help doctors, nurses, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, dentists, nurse practitioners, physical therapists, medical assistants, nutritionists, and other allied health workers gain the essential vocabulary in Spanish, terminology and communication skills in order to provide high-quality care to the Spanish speaking audience. Our goal, as always in this type of program, is for health students to acquire tools for better communication with Hispanic migrant patients at the point of care.

The Give Me Five Program and Harvard Medical School Partnership

It has been 10 years since HMS challenged us to continue the effort started in 1971 by Dr. Manuel Guillermo Herrera: the medical Spanish course for final-year students at Harvard Medical School. The trust placed in us and the good results will allow us to reach this year the 20th edition of the course that is held in two annual sessions, traditionally in September and October. After COVID-19, the online sessions of the IHCAI Institute medical Spanish course were titled "Give Me Five" (GMF), and last year (2023) we managed to reach the symbolic figure of 100 students in this program.

The tireless work of Dr. Herrera was fortunate to have the renewed and decisive leadership of Dr. Nicte Mejia, MD, Director of the Department of Neurology and Community Health, Diversity and Inclusion at Brigham and Women's Hospital; and Kari Hannibal, Program Manager at Harvard Medical School. For the ninth consecutive year, the IHCAI Institute team, working hand in hand with the academic authorities of the Harvard Medical School (HMS), will carry out the online medical Spanish course: "Give Me Five."

Educational Strategy and Clinical Scenarios

CRLA’s Medical Spanish classes will enable you to speak with and understand your Spanish speaking patients in a simple and precise way. It is important to note that the IHCAI Institute decided to celebrate this anniversary by thoroughly revamping its grammar manuals and generating completely new manuals for clinical scenario classes. This was possible thanks to the experience acquired in the virtual sessions and the evaluations carried out by the staff involved in the course and the feedback from the students.

While most beginner students generate a rapid qualitative change in their level of medical Spanish, the most advanced students manage to refresh and polish their acquired skills. A second language is a muscle that requires frequent stimulation. This program is applicable for all medical health professionals and customizable to different medical specialties and needs.

Medical Spanish Course Structure

The CRLA Medical Program begins with two introductory modules called “Basic Vocabulary” and “Medical Interview” which provide lexical bases and dialogue examples that will facilitate communication between any doctors and his/her patients. According to the curriculum, the program has a total of eight modules divided by systems:

For each system, the teacher will explain vocabulary, how the system works, common diseases that affect it and the cross examination that must be done to any patient suffering from any condition related to that specific system. The last unit of the textbook is about the cultural importance of medicinal plants in Latin America.

Destinations for Immersion and Practice

Although the online experience has limitations and does not replace the cultural immersion of the mother program P010A that began in 2001, it is a relatively low-cost educational training. Students are invited to visit us at our facilities in Costa Rica for the face-to-face edition of the course. You may also study Spanish in South America at various destinations:

• Peru: Study Spanish at this popular Spanish school in beautiful Cusco.
• Argentina: Study Spanish in the city that never sleeps: the vibrant Argentine Capital Buenos Aires or Bariloche.
• Chile: Take Spanish lessons in the Chilean capital Santiago.
• Colombia: Visit the Caribbean atmosphere in Cartagena, or learn Spanish in Bogota and Medellin.
• Costa Rica: Study in the lush environment of Turrialba, the beach town of Puerto Viejo, or Santo Domingo de Heredia.

For information about our in-person and online medical Spanish courses, please contact us at: [email protected] or [email protected].