9 Excellent Medical Spanish Courses Online for Healthcare Professionals
Are you ready to go the extra mile and learn medical Spanish to boost your career?
Highly motivated healthcare professionals choose to learn the language of the country they’re visiting in order to make their patients feel comfortable and give them better service. And you likely understand that learning medical Spanish goes beyond just mission trips. Currently, the United States has the second-largest Spanish-speaking population after Mexico. That means learning Spanish is a great help even if you’re staying in the US! So today we’re going to lay out some options for learning medical Spanish online, as well as give you some tips and resources if you’re feeling adventurous enough to learn on your own.
What is Medical Spanish?
Medical Spanish consists of Spanish phrases, interview questions, and interactions that health care professionals must know in order to provide quality care to patients who only speak Spanish. Nurses, physicians, emergency responders, and physical and occupational therapists all benefit from knowing medical Spanish. It is useful for mission trips abroad or local patients who need Spanish to communicate effectively. Knowing this industry-specific Spanish will allow you to properly care for a wider demographic, as well as increase your chances of getting a better job in a bilingual setting.
Tips for Medical Students
Learning medical Spanish is not like learning conversational Spanish. You wouldn’t learn lawyer lingo in Spanish 101; the same logic applies here, and that’s why medical Spanish can be a bit more intimidating to learn for beginners! If you want to make your time studying easier, follow these simple tips:
Have a Medical Spanish Dictionary Handy
Having a medical Spanish dictionary handy will go a long way to help beginner and intermediate level speakers. One of the beautiful things about dictionaries is that when looking for a specific word, you’ll come across other words and learn something extra in the process. Dictionaries will also help you fill in any vocabulary that you don’t know yet, and while it can be slow at times, you’ll have all the vocabulary you need in the palm of your hand.
Divide and Conquer
One of the best techniques to learn a new language is to divide your vocabulary into chunks. Set the goal of learning one word each day, seven words a week, and practice them every chance you get. In a month, you’ll know 30 words. In six months, you’ll know over 180 different words! Slow and steady wins the race; it’s better to focus on learning a few words really well, so your knowledge will pay off in the near future.
Target Your Learning
Targeting your learning means focusing on the medical terms you’ll use the most as a starting point. For example, if you know you’re going on a vaccination-oriented medical mission trip, you might want to focus your vocabulary on vaccination-related words and phrases. But how do you even come up with the necessary words? Check out our next tip!
Remember You’re Not Alone!
There are countless online resources available to you, as well as groups of people who teach medical Spanish and some even give certifications. Look up things on the internet, get in contact with foreign doctors on the internet, or take an online course! The possibilities are endless; remember that talking with and learning from others will make your medical Spanish experience a lot more enjoyable and easier overall. I just happen to have a list of online medical Spanish courses and resources to get you started. Let’s take a look at them!
Medical Spanish Courses Online
medicalspanish.com
medicalspanish.com offers medical Spanish classes specializing in different areas of healthcare such as hospital nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians, emergency responders, medical assistants, physical therapists, and medical receptionists, etc.
Structure of course: Courses are completely online. You can study at any time you want. For each chapter, there are six learning activities. Each activity takes about 5-10 minutes to complete.
Time investment: 25 hours
Price: $60-$150
Certification: Yes
Canopy Learn 2.0
Canopy is designed to teach you medical Spanish with the convenience and portability of a phone app. They offer a strong course curriculum online that serves a wide range of proficiency levels, from beginner all the way to native speakers. These courses can be on the pricier side of things but they offer continuing education (CE) Credits and a certificate in return. It’s certainly worth a look!
Structure of course: modules separated into 15-minute chunks in order to easily incorporate the lessons into a busy schedule. Longer form interactive activities are also available. Courses are divided into three different proficiency levels so advanced speakers don’t have to take the entire course.
Time investment: 40 hours
Price: $225-$525
Certification: Yes
ed2go Spanish for Medical Professionals
Ed2go offers medical Spanish lessons that you can either take by yourself or with a teacher online. This is a great option for total beginners, because they provide a refresher on basic Spanish before diving into medical Spanish basics. You can later take their more advanced courses if you want to further expand your medical Spanish knowledge base!
Structure of course: The course can be taken alongside a teacher or by yourself at your preference. You will learn basic Spanish such as numbers and simple conjugation. Later, you’ll move on to more complex topics such as body parts, common medical problems, appointments, emergencies, etc.
Time investment: 24 hours over 6 weeks
Price: $149
Certification: Yes
Udemy’s Medical Spanish Course
Udemy’s known for their vast array of online courses, so it’s no surprise they have a medical Spanish course too! This one offers fewer hours of content than the others, but it might be easier to pay the $50 price in comparison to the other ones. Udemy usually has sales and special offers for new accounts, so be sure to check them out.
Structure of course: You’ll learn theSpanish questions for the PQRST method of pain assessment, as well as the names of common medications, body parts, common patient responses, and how to give directions for use.
Time investment: 2.5+ hours
Price: $50
Certification: Yes
Lengalia Medical Spanish Course
Lengalia offers you multimedia resources, live tutors, reading materials and exercises for the duration of your subscription. Right now they have a sale that ends on May 2020, so if you’re reading this then, you might want to check them out. They are still somewhat more affordable than some of the other options on this list without the discount.
Structure of course: 5 blocks that talk about hospitalization, appointments, operations and emergencies. All lessons have a dialogue section, specialized texts, and a variety of interactive exercises with which you will be able to practice and enhance your knowledge. Every lesson has a chapter on vocabulary with the words and indispensable expressions which will allow you to communicate in a spontaneous and clear manner.
Time investment: 1 month / 3 months / 12 months
Price: $33-$132
Certification: Yes
Free Medical Spanish Resources
1. Language Tailor
Language Tailor’s YouTube channel has dozens of useful medical Spanish videos.
2. Common Ground International
The Common Ground YouTube channel has over 200 medical Spanish videos to fit your needs! A great and exhaustive source of reference material.
3. Medical Dictionary Apps for Android and iOS
You can also download medical dictionary apps for Android and iOS phones to help you out!
4. Medical Spanish Audio App
This great app will help you with a huge list of medical Spanish topics. This is sure to come to the rescue when you’re in a pinch! It has both Android and iOS versions available.
Thank You for Your Dedication!
Healthcare professionals constantly dedicate themselves to improving the lives and health of other people. The fact that you want to include Spanish in your practice is commendable! By using the tips and resources that we shared today, you’ll be speaking Spanish in no time. To boost your Spanish speaking skills, take a free trial class with Homeschool Spanish Academy and learn from one of our certified teachers.
Want more medical Spanish resources? Check these out!
- 9 Excellent Medical Spanish Courses Online for Healthcare Professionals
- 50 Essential Medical Spanish Phrases for Your Upcoming Physical
- Distributing Aid in Spanish: Impactful Vocabulary and Useful Phrases
- 9 Medical Specialist Jobs in the U.S. That Pay More to Be Bilingual
- It’s An Emergency! Why American Doctors Need to Know Medical Spanish
- Going to the Doctor in Spanish
- 11 Fun and Easy Spanish Tongue Twisters for Kids - October 14, 2020
- ‘How Can I Help You?’ in Spanish and Customer Service Conversations - September 16, 2020
- Enter a Runner’s World in Spanish: Must-Run Marathons in Latin America - September 14, 2020
