Sunday, September 17, 2017


Harvard Medical School
Longwood Campus
Boston USA

For the third consecutive year IHCAI develops the medical Spanish course for Harvard Medical School

After two very successful sessions, from September 25th  to October 22th  the medical Spanish course will be held again on the HMS campus. For us is an honor to contribute to the pioneering efforts in favor of the Hispanic population that Manuel Guillermo Herrera MD, Harvard Medical School professor (Brigham and Women's Hospital) began over 40 years ago.

This is a very intensive Medical Spanish Course focusing on the interaction between the physician and patient. We have defined critical points in the geography of human communication, considering all different scenarios in the clinical context:

- Clinic history
- Clinical interview (under normal conditions versus stressful conditions)
- Physical exam
- Clinical rounds and case presentations

The first three correspond to interpersonal communication. The fourth is a group communication. Have different characteristics. We have de-composed these first three elements to generate a thematic inventory of critical issues at level of oral communication with patients, as a guide to be developed with students:

- Surface Anatomy
- Internal anatomy
- Signs and symptoms
- Vital signs
- Anthropometric measures
- Prescriptions
- Laboratory tests
- Medical procedures
- Inform consent
- Management plan, recommendations and case monitoring
- Communicating bad new
- Alternative medicine

Clinical rounds and case presentations (as daily dynamics within a hospital) include more technical medical communication elements. We have decided to use these options as modalities for the Final Presentation. Are options available for groups of more advanced students can learn scientific vocabulary in Spanish, beyond the colloquial vocabulary used in regular dialogue with patients.

Analysis of clinical cases and simulated patients will be educational practices as a tangent that crosses the entire matrix of the course. Common and rare medical problems and diseases are considered in our Medical Spanish learning model, such as chronic diseases and different medical aspects. But our methodology also considers the students particular interests. We want student’s participation is active and not passive.

If participants are expecting this course to give them only ‘pre-formulated questions and statements’ as ‘pocket formula’ (which are very common on the Internet now), then this course is not what you are looking for. These formulas can be only useful to ask questions to a patient but do not prepare you to understand the response of the patient, it requires hard work to learn Spanish as a second language but that is exactly what the participants will do with us.

To facilitate the learning process and to address the particular needs of students, we will divide the group into 3 levels:

·         Beginner low
·         Intermediate low
·         Intermediate high

This is a division that makes an empirical and simple approach to a complex assessment levels model. It's only useful to plan the start of the course and share a general notion. Our grammar staff is highly trained in the Common European Framework of reference for language learning, teaching and assessment (*). At the end of the course we can make a technical assessment of your skills within this theoretical model.

(*) Reference: The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Language Policy Unit, Strasbourg. CEFR last version, 2017. 

In this course we apply an eclectic approach that combines different conceptions of linguistic theory for teaching Spanish as second language with learning philosophy of Problem Based Learning (PBL).

Faculty

Course implementation in Boston:
Prof. Alba Vargas  / Spanish instructor – Grammar emphasis
Dr. Ricardo Camacho / Clinical scenarios instructor – Clinical emphasis
Bsc. Laura Gil, MD Candidate 2019 - Clinical scenarios emphasis & link with grammar scenarios

 Planning and development in Costa Rica:
Dr. Mario Tristan - IHCAI Institute Director–General
Prof. Yuri Baidal / Coordinator

Who are we?
Click here for IHCAI Foundation presentation