Learn Medical Spanish: Books, Certification, Online Classes, Immersion Trips, Interpreting & More
Learn the medical Spanish terminology you need and want for effective work with your Spanish-only patients. A perfect class option for anyone working in community health or with the underserved Spanish-only patient population.
Why learn medical Spanish?
Because it makes a huge difference in the lives of your Spanish only patients when you can connect with them in their language (even if you only know basic medical Spanish phrases). Additionally, there are more reasons to learn medical Spanish in Colorado (and across the USA):
- First of all, you can physically see the sighs of relief when you use your medical Spanish with patients to establish a positive rapport and understand their situation.
- Secondly, you have more confidence and insight on patient conversations when using your interpreters because you know some basic medical Spanish and common medical Spanish phrases for high frequency ideas that you need to communicate.
- Additionally, many nursing jobs prefer candidates with some level of bilingualism, and most nursing schools don’t have space in their schedules to provide medical Spanish courses.
- Finally, Common Ground’s Spanish teachers are extremely engaging and fun to learn medical Spanish with, so our courses are low-stress and high-impact.
Free Medical Spanish Masterclass: Sign up here to join our next session!Register for the 10-day Medical Spanish Masterclass
Products, Courses & Services to learn Medical Spanish:
The best resources to Learn Medical Spanish for the healthcare is Common Ground International! Since 2001 we’ve been providing Spanish training and language services that help Spanish-only patients connect with their healthcare providers. Patients understand their conditions and treatment options, and receive better quality care because the medical team they’re working with can speak their language.
We work hard to help you learn medical Spanish. For example, we write articles and language tips to help you navigate the responsible use of Spanish with your patients. In fact, many of the blog posts are “Video Viernes” free medical Spanish lessons. Additionally, we address frequently asked questions and common mistakes that students make in our Spanish for healthcare courses.
The best medical Spanish books and study resources for anyone in healthcare looking to learn medical Spanish. We have curated a list of resources that we approve of and believe are useful to you. Furthermore, our books help you in your endeavor to learn more Spanish for your clinical work with patients.
A new certification for the healthcare industry is coming soon. This bilingual certification for healthcare reduces costs and improves the quality of care that Spanish-only patients receive. This is an advanced level certification because it blends Spanish fluidity and accuracy with cultural savvy and assesses your ability to do your job in Spanish. This is a certification for clinical staff, not administrative staff.
Turnkey online medical Spanish courses for universities and healthcare programs wanting to integrate Spanish for healthcare into their curriculum. Firstly, these courses can be credit bearing or non credit bearing, pass/fail or graded courses. Secondly, all of our faculty have graduate degrees in Spanish or a related healthcare field. Therefore, we are well-equipped to become an integral component of your faculty.
See more info below…
Live-taught and pre-packaged online medical Spanish courses open for registration. Our live-taught online medical Spanish Courses are taught by our instructors abroad so that you have conversations with native speakers. And our pre-packaged courses are taught by our senior medical Spanish instructor, Rory Foster.
We open our immersion trips to healthcare workers and students of all Spanish levels trying to learn medical Spanish. We help you gain proficiency in Spanish so that you can give back to local communities in need. Immersion trips currently run 2 times a year in Central and South America (Costa Rica & Ecuador). Dates are February-March and June-July, so you choose what works best for you! These are not clinically focused medical missions because we want you to use Spanish in a wide variety of contexts. Our focus is on language proficiency development while we deliver community and public health outreach to local communities in need.
Learn Medical Spanish with us on Medical Spanish Immersion Trips to Ecuador and Costa Rica:
1 – 2 weeks in length
2 – 6 weeks in length
1 – 6 weeks in length
Learn Medical Spanish with us Online: Online Medical Spanish Courses
Medical Spanish Masterclass
How to use Por and Para in Medical Conversations
How to use Direct and Indirect Objects in Medical Spanish Conversations
Medical Spanish Pronunciation
Medical Spanish: Intermediate Listening Comprehension
Using Ser & Estar in Medical Spanish Conversations: Online Course
Using Present Tense in Medical Spanish: Online Course
Using Past Tenses in Medical Spanish: Online Course
Complete Guide to Taking a Medical History in Spanish
Beginning MMS: Beginning Medical Spanish Course Online
Intermediate MMS: Intermediate Medical Spanish Course Online
Advanced MMS: Advanced Medical Spanish Course Online
MSI: Medical Spanish Interpreter Training Course
Beginning Spanish for Pharmacists
Intermediate Spanish for Pharmacists
1:1 Online Medical Spanish Classes
Our perspective on learning & teaching medical Spanish:
We all know that patient outcomes improve when patients receive care in their primary language. Most healthcare professionals have access to medical interpreters for patients who struggle with English, but nothing strengthens rapport and improves health outcomes more than understanding and communicating clearly with your patients directly.
Students and professionals are welcome to register for medical Spanish terminology classes that teach you how to speak Spanish more comfortably, confidently & responsibly in the healthcare setting. You will likely still need a medical interpreter for many situations with your Spanish only patients – but your patients will be relieved and thank you profusely for speaking Spanish to them.
Here is how we run our courses:
- We take a functional proficiency approach, which means that we focus first on the most necessary vocabulary and grammar for your work with patients. We won’t focus on vocabulary that is unrelated to everyday medical/clinical scenarios, nor will we bore you with fancy grammar – you need the essentials, and that’s what functional proficiency is all about.
- In most cases, the necessary medical Spanish skill is the ability to communicate orally with your patients. All of our classes focus on accurate oral communication in Spanish, we don’t focus on perfect reading and writing competencies.
- Culture and language are inseparable. You must understand and be able to communicate across cultures in order to work effectively in another language.
Free Medical Spanish Masterclass: Sign up here to join our next session!Register for the 10-day Medical Spanish Masterclass
Stay connected with Common Ground’s Medical Spanish Community
Join our Learning Medical Spanish Facebook Group
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Free Medical Spanish Lessons & Terminology Downloads
Our goal is to help you improve your Spanish for free, so please use and share these free tools to learn Spanish terminology. These video lessons and downloads are completely free, so get yours today and share this page with your colleagues & coworkers who want free Spanish terminology as well!
Free Weekly Medical Spanish Lessons! Sign up here to get Video Viernes LessonsMost Fridays throughout the year we publish a free lesson for you.
We have packaged up free medical Spanish lessons just for you, so we hope you enjoy them! Some months we’ll publish free Spanish lessons every week. However, other months when we’re on medical Spanish immersion, we publish less content. Enjoy, and additionally, don’t forget to share with your colleagues!
47 responses to “Learn Medical Spanish: Books, Certification, Online Classes, Immersion Trips, Interpreting & More”
Hi. I’m a nurse practitioner with a prior degree in Spanish. I also spent 9months in Spain as an exchange student in college. However, college was a long time ago and I’ve gotten a bit rusty. I’m wondering which class you would recommend since I’m not a beginner. I have $1,500 in continuing medical education money from the hospital I work at, so I would need to be able to get credit for the course I take.
Hi Jennifer, the best place to start with a recommendation based on your current knowledge is to take this medical Spanish placement test. That will give us an idea of your current skills and we’ll be able to suggest the best place to start! Cheers,
Hello, hola!
I recently found your Spanish for Mental health professionals series online! It was sooooo very helpful. I would like to make a donation to you please. Unfortunately I can’t give very much, but if/when I have more I will send. I am just so grateful to have found the video and so very appreciative that you offered it as a free resource. I’m a bilingual social worker and therapist, but sometimes I struggle to choose the right language when I’m doing an intake with a client. This video tightened all that right up for me! Also sometimes after work I’m too tired to read, so it helps that I can pop in my headphones and listen and refresh. Thank you SO very much!!!!
Such a nice note Colista! You’re very welcome. Did you know we’re running a free 10-day Medical Spanish Masterclass next month? We’d love to have you join if that would be interesting to you. Here is the link to get registered: https://commongroundinternational.com/medical-spanish/healthcare-spanish-masterclass/ Instead of a donation, how about just sharing the masterclass info to your colleagues and coworkers? It would be great to have a bigger impact in your community. Hope to see you online! Cheers,
Hi,
I am the author of the longest-running English/Spanish medical dictionary and have recently created an app for it. I am writing to see if you or your staff or students would be interested in beta testing the app.
Compared to Google Translate, my app is more accurate and helpful, and while it can’t translate entire sentences, it does translate multi-word terms, such as “skilled nursing facility,” “against medical advice,” and “vaccine hesitancy.” It includes any medically-related term likely to occur in a conversation between a health professional and a patient and has an extensive sample dialogue section.
Being a beta tester involves no obligation and requires no effort beyond what the user feels like putting into it. If users find errors or have suggestions, the app has a convenient “give feedback” button that will email me and the developer directly. A temporary (beta) version of the app can be downloaded at the following links:
iPhone: https://testflight.apple.com/join/Yf4Y08wW
android: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.rogers_dictionary.
Feel free to contact me with comments or questions. I would enjoy hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Glenn Rogers, MD
(707)354-3950
Hey Glenn, thanks for posting here! I like your dictionary, have sold it in our online store for years, and I’m glad to see you’ve put it into an app! I’ll be glad to share with our community. In fact, if you want to join our Learning Medical Spanish Facebook group, you can drop the Apple test flight and Google testing links in there too.
Cheers, Rory