Each semester, the CLS offers opportunities for members of the Yale community to study a language for special purposes (LSP). In LSP courses, participants pursue language and culture study in specific disciplines, such as medicine, business, law, or other areas.

Although these courses do not currently offer course credit, many Yale graduate and professional school students, administrators, staff, and others are nonetheless strongly motivated to pursue such forms of language study to satisfy specific career or professional needs.

Fall 2009: Spanish for Health Care Professionals

Registrations are now being accepted for the Fall 2009 semester. All registrations must be received by no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday, September 18, 2009. Upon submission of the registration form, you will be considered registered for the course and responsible for funding your participation in it (unless your program/school has made other arrangements). Please refer to the email your program/school has sent to you outlining their specific policies for attendance and course fees!

Classes start the week of September 28th and end the week of November 16th. Please note: No classes will be held on Monday, September 28th due to Yom Kippur. For the Monday/Wednesday sections, an extra class will be scheduled on Friday, November 20th as a make-up session.

The course fee is $120 for students enrolled in a Yale department or program. The course fee for non-students is $150, payable to the Center for Language Study before the start of the class. Courses that do not meet the minimum enrollment of 10 students may be canceled.

You will be refunded the course fee if you drop within the first week (no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 2, 2009). Should you drop after the first week, you (or your program/school) will be responsible for the full course fee.

Level 1

This eight-week course is tailored to the needs of students with very limited or no previous experience studying Spanish. Its main purpose is to introduce and develop the linguistic and cultural skills necessary to facilitate basic communication and negotiate a number of difficulties posed by an English-Spanish language barrier between patients and providers. Students will begin acquiring the key vocabulary, useful phrases and critical grammatical elements that they will need to engage in practical dialogue. In particular, classes will be focused on developing students’ oral and aural abilities in order to prepare them to ask for, obtain, and effectively communicate essential information in real-world contexts. Classes will meet twice a week.

Required Textbooks:

Kechkian, Claudia A. Quick and Easy Medical Spanish: A Hands-On Guide to Spanish Basics. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006.
(Available at Amazon.com and MHProfessional.com)

Gorospe Rombouts, Saskia, and Courtney Barbetto, RN. The Everything Spanish Phrase Book for Health Care Professionals. Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2009. Print.
(Available at Amazon.com and AdamsMediastore.com)

Level 2

This eight-week course has been designed for students who already have a basic command of Spanish fundamentals. Ideally, students will have previously studied the language in high school or college for one to two years and will be capable of engaging in basic conversations related to simple topics. The aim of this course is to both solidify and improve upon existing abilities, with a focus on applying these skills to medically related contexts. More in-depth cultural and contextual considerations will be an important component in addition to practicing specific tasks, such as taking a patient’s medical history and discussing a variety of health issues. The acquisition of basic as well as more advanced/specialized terminology will also be emphasized. Beyond focusing on the sharpening of existing oral and aural abilities, the frequent inclusion of reading and writing exercises will serve to enhance students’ communicative repertoire. Classes will meet twice a week.

Required Textbook:

Cotton, Christine E., Elizabeth Ely Tolman, and Julia Cardona Mack. ¡A su salud!: Spanish for Health Professionals. Rev. Elizabeth C. Bruno. New Haven: Yale UP, 2010.
(Available at Amazon.com and Yale University Press)

Level 3

This 8-week advanced course is intended for students who are already reasonably proficient in Spanish and would be able to realize a complete and meaningful conversation with patients in the target language, including one centered on medical topics. Prior background would include a familiarity with basic medical terminology in Spanish and formal language study during at least 2+ years and/or time spent living in the target culture (abroad or domestically). As linguistic fundamentals are already well developed, this course will primarily be focused on practical scenarios related to specific clinical cases. The acquisition of specialized medical terminology as well as reflection on nuanced cultural considerations will be stressed. Students will be working to augment their fluency in both oral and written modes of communication. Classes will meet once a week.

Application

For students in the Yale School of Medicine, the Yale School of Nursing, and the Yale School of Public Health, the application for Spanish for Health Care Professionals is now available.