Academic Catalog

SPAN 51: SPANISH FOR HEALTH CARE WORKERS

Foothill College Course Outline of Record

Foothill College Course Outline of Record
Heading Value
Effective Term: Summer 2022
Units: 3
Hours: 3 lecture per week (36 total per quarter)
Degree & Credit Status: Degree-Applicable Credit Course
Foothill GE: Non-GE
Transferable: CSU
Grade Type: Letter Grade (Request for Pass/No Pass)
Repeatability: Not Repeatable

Student Learning Outcomes

  • The student will be able to communicate in basic Spanish to obtain and provide information about a patient's medical history and condition.
  • The student will demonstrate understanding of cultural differences as they relate to health in the Latino community.

Description

An introduction to basic medical terminology in Spanish, including parts of the body, common ailments, taking a patient's medical history and understanding cultural differences related to health. Students gain basic conversational skills useful in a medical setting.

Course Objectives

The student will be able to:

  1. Develop basic conversational skills using culturally appropriate formulas of courtesy and address.
  2. Acquire grammatical competence to obtain information about a patient's medical history and symptoms, as well as provide information about diagnosis, treatment and follow-up appointments.
  3. Gain command of common medical terminology, and vocabulary related to a patient's medical history.
  4. Understand cultural differences as they relate to health, and increase student's cultural sensitivity in working with patients from the Latino community.

Course Content

  1. Develop basic conversational skills using culturally appropriate formulas of courtesy and address
    1. Basic greetings and leave-takings
    2. Taking a patient's vitals and medical history
    3. Asking questions about a recent condition
    4. Giving instructions for treatment and follow-up appointments
    5. Describe common illnesses and medical procedures
    6. Avoid common pronunciation errors
  2. Acquire grammatical competence to obtain information about a patient's medical history and symptoms, as well as provide information about diagnosis, treatment and follow-up appointments
    1. Telling time, days of the week, months of the year
    2. Asking questions in a medical setting
    3. Spanish present tense conjugation of verbs common in a medical setting, such as "doler," "molestar" and "sentirse"
    4. Understand the different between the verbs "estar" and "tener" to express physical and emotional states
    5. The periphrastic future
    6. Constructions with "hace + time" to explain how long ago a symptom started and for how long something has lasted
    7. Imperfect tense for habitual actions in the past, and describing symptoms in the past
    8. Preterite tense for recent, completed actions
    9. Simple recommendations and softened commands, using the present subjunctive and constructions such as "tener que"
  3. Gain command of common medical terminology, and vocabulary related to a patient's personal information
    1. Familiar vs. formal modes of address
    2. Parts of the body and internal organs
    3. Parts of the male and female reproductive organs
    4. Common conditions and their symptoms, including prevalent health problems in the Latino community
    5. Pregnancy, and childhood illnesses
    6. Family relationships
  4. Understand cultural differences as they relate to health, and increase student's cultural sensitivity in working with patients from the Latino community
    1. Common ailments in the Latino community, such as diabetes, asthma, hypertension
    2. Traditional gender roles and their influence on health-related issues
    3. Traditional health beliefs, practices and remedies

Lab Content

Not applicable.

Special Facilities and/or Equipment

1. When taught on campus: no special facilities or equipment needed.
2. When taught virtually, ongoing access to computer, internet, and email.

Method(s) of Evaluation

Methods of Evaluation may include but are not limited to the following:

Written exams and quizzes
Role-play oral exams
Small group work
Research presentations

Method(s) of Instruction

Methods of Instruction may include but are not limited to the following:

Students will role-play situations that are common in a medical setting using the grammatical structures discussed in class
As part of the instruction, students will be allowed to propose topics of discussion and/or study, related to their experience and needs in the health care professions

Representative Text(s) and Other Materials

Rios, Joana. Complete Medical Spanish. 2017.

Ortega, Pilar. Spanish and the Medical Interview: A Textbook for Clinically Relevant Medical Spanish. 2006.

Although the Ortega text is older than the suggested "5 years or newer" standard, it remains seminal in this area of study.

Types and/or Examples of Required Reading, Writing, and Outside of Class Assignments

  1. For further research, students will read, summarize and present articles pertaining to health issues in the Latino community, such as:
    1. The pages of the CDC website in Spanish
    2. The California Department of Public Health: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/
    3. View the PBS documentary, "Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?": https://unnaturalcauses.org/
  2. Students working or volunteering in a health care setting will use their daily experience for journal entries and opportunities for in-class discussion.

Discipline(s)

Foreign Languages