Spanish for Health Professionals Certificate Program
The Certificate Program in Spanish for Health Professionals emphasizes cross-cultural communication and Spanish language acquisition for students employed in or pursuing careers in health-related professions. The four courses required for the program will help students develop proficiency in conversational Spanish with an emphasis on practical interactions in health and medical contexts. Students will also develop cultural competencies in relating to people from Hispanic cultures. The certificate consists of Spanish 103, 106, 111, and FORL 235. Students must earn a C or better in Spanish 106 in order to progress to the upper-level courses in the certificate.
SPAN 103: Health Professions Spanish I. Beginning study of Spanish language and culture through textual, audio, and visual materials. Learning to function in culturally authentic situations and to perform with some proficiency in the four fundamental skill areas: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. The vocabulary and context revolve around the medical professions. Designed to develop novice to novice-mid oral and written proficiency as defined by the American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages. Fulfills F3 requirement.
SPAN 106: Health Professions Spanish II. Beginning study of Spanish language and culture through textual, audio, and visual materials. Learning to function in culturally authentic situations and to perform with some proficiency in the four fundamental skill areas: reading writing, listening, and speaking. The vocabulary and context revolve around the medical professions. Designed to develop novice-mid to novice-high oral and written proficiency as defined by the American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages. Fulfills F3 requirement. Prerequisite: Spanish 103.
SPAN 111: Conversational Spanish for Health Professionals. The primary objective of this course is to develop Spanish oral proficiency among health care pre-professionals and professionals who interact with Spanish-speaking patients. It will use applicable communicative tools and techniques, such as medical terminology, key words, power phrases, questionnaires, patient forms and effective interviews. It will continue to explore intercultural issues through reference information written from a cross-cultural perspective. This course will integrate a Service Learning experience at local community partners. Pre-requisite: SPAN 106.
FORL 235: Cultural Competence for Health Professionals. This course will develop students' knowledge of the US Latino/a community, cultural attitudes, beliefs and practices towards health care. It will also help students communicate effectively with Spanish speaking patients in a variety of medical settings. The course will focus on developing intercultural competence so that health care providers may offer adequate and culturally sensitive care to his or her Spanish speaking patients. Course will be taught in English. It will also fulfill M5 requirement.
Upon completion of the four courses, students will have obtained the following learning outcomes:
- Written Communication. Achieve working professional knowledge of written Spanish and medical terminology in Spanish in health-care contexts.
- Oral Communication. Achieve essential oral communication skills in Spanish in health-care contexts (equivalent to ACTFL Intermediate/Intermediate Low).
- Cultural Competence and Real-World Experience. Develop cultural competence relevant to the Hispanic communities in this area by identifying the diverse cultural beliefs and practices relevant to healthcare for Hispanics in the U.S. as well as own belief systems and cultural practices.
- Research. Develop coherent theses in class-based research projects focused on the challenges common to Hispanic communities in this area.
If you have any questions, please contact:
Dr. Nilsa Lasso-von Lang Dr. Carmen Ferrero
Associate Professor of Spanish Associate Professor of Spanish
Email: lasso-vonlangn@moravian.edu. Email: ferreroc@moravian.edu