Source
r/premed•
dancingpineapple8

Learning medically relevant Spanish

So I took 5 years of Spanish so my conversational skills and writing are pretty decent, I can get by. I was helping out a Spanish-speaking patient the other day and all of the interpreters were busy so I was trying to get her story down to expedite the process while we waited. I realized in that moment that Spanish classes definitely do not teach you a lot of medically-relevant words that would be helpful in situations like these.

Do any of you have resources (preferably free) that you’ve found helpful to improve your language skills in a clinical setting? I have Duolingo but it’s not very relevant to medicine. Thanks!

Posted Apr 5, 2019, 7:41 PM UTC

613
Nostos5REAPPLICANT•

I too have tried to improve with Duolingo but it's not super helpful for this lol. Type in Medical Terminology pdf and you should find a glossary of terms to review. Alternatively you could use Anki flashcards on your phone or do sporcle quizzes. There are also online Medical translation courses and in person classes offered at many hospitals.

edit: grammar

6
premedweebAPPLICANT•

Same. The Spanish on duolingo is very basic. Even the medical section doesn't go much further than basic body parts and words like doctor and hospitals

2
dancingpineapple8OP•

Is there a particular anki deck you use?

1
hopefulpremed16ADMITTED-MD/PhD•

There is a program called Mango that many public libraries carry nowadays. Besides a general Spanish grammar course they also have focused lessons and courses for specific careers, including medical Spanish. I was a medical interpreter for two years and I have to say it’s pretty decent for a free service offered at public institutions.

Edit: go to your local library’s website and it’ll probably be found there. If you live in an even medium sized city the lib will have it most likely.

4
dancingpineapple8OP•

That’s awesome! I never would have known about it. I’ll definitely check out my local library to see if it’s available.

2
premedchicaAPPLICANT•

Memrise.com has a medical Spanish course. It helps with recognizing the terminology. I currently scribe in an office with Spanish speaking patients and have slowly been learning relevant words through context clues.

1
TheRamenMermaid•

This is extremely ethically questionable. I’d advise you to not talk to patients about medically related things in a language you have no formal training interpreting for.

-6
dancingpineapple8OP•

Yeah I found her a Spanish-speaking hospital staff once I figured out what she actually needed, which is why I tried to speak with her in the first place. A lot of the patients we see are just lost and need to be pointed in the right direction but she had a lot more trouble knowing where she needed to go which is why she started telling me all her issue in more details. Definitely agree though, and that’s why we use interpreters.

6
fingiez•

Idk why you're getting down-voted. I'm fluent bilingual and have volunteered as a medical interpreter with no problem because I was permitted by the clinic to do so. When I was in my uni's affiliated hospital research course, I could not communicate with patients in any language other than English without an interpreter on the line or screen. It's annoying but institutions have their own rules and it's best to abide by them.

1
TheRamenMermaid•

I think it has to do with people not really grasping the complexities of an interpreters job. There’s more to interpreting than just translating from one language to another; the cultural aspect is harder to learn and any effort to learn medical terminology to use with patients always has that risk of causing more harm than good.

I think it’s great OP is able to use their Spanish to help out, but when you start talking about using medical terminology to help patients, it becomes a bit concerning.

Ofc OP could also be referring to words to better help them give directions in a clinic, but without clarification I thought they meant something more.

2
fingiez•

Oh for sure and not just in Spanish. For example, in French "j'ai mal au cœur" literally translates to "my heart hurts" but culturally it is understood as having an upset stomach/being nauseous. I can only imagine the confusion and urgency this can stir up with an improper translation.

2
dancingpineapple8OP•

Yup I just needed to help her get to the women’s clinic which was literally down the hall

1
TheRamenMermaid•

Understandable! I was thrown off and thought you wanted something more since a lot of medically relevant Spanish words are already cognates or basic...clínica, pulmones, respiratorio, fiebre, etc...

2