Intensive Medical Spanish in Costa Rica

January 6-20, 2013

Growing Population

• Hispanic population in the U.S. is greater than 50 million – 16.3% of the population– 30% of the population by 2050

Need for Medical Spanish

• 19% of the U.S. Hispanic population speak only Spanish

• 55% of the U.S. Hispanic population have limited English proficiency

• Difficulty communicating with clinicians results in poor patient education, missed appointments, omitted medications, etc.

Too few Spanish Speakers

• Lack of Hispanic health care providers– Health care community is far less diverse

than the patient population– Only 3% of nurses, and 4% of physicians

are native Spanish speakers

Why Medical Spanish?

• Allow for more effective communication in the clinical setting

• Gain the confidence, compliance, and loyalty of your Hispanic patients

• Expanded cultural awareness

Medical Spanish Seminar Costa Rica 2012• Dates: January 6th-20th

• Daily semi-private group classes (typically 2-3 students with a maximum of 4)

• Homestay (2 meals, laundry service, private room)– Carefully screened and accustomed to having foreign

students

• Lectures on the Costa Rican health care system, medicinal plants, etc.

• Volunteer / observation at local public clinics• Multiple included excursions, and several optional

ones• Cost will be in the range of $2,000.00

Costa Rica

Costa Rica• Tourist destination:

Caribbean and Pacific beaches, volcanoes, rain forests, cloud forests

• Stable democracy• Excellent health care

system• Low crime rate• High standard of living

The School

• CPI or Centro Panamericano de Idiomas– 20 years in the business– Small classes– Well-equipped facilities– Affiliations with multiple U.S. universities

Goals

• Increase the student’s ability to communicate in Spanish in a clinical setting

• Provide a basis for the development of foreign language competency

• Cultural proficiency: strategies for tailoring health care delivery to meet patients social, cultural, and linguistic needs

More Information

• cernst@lhup.edu• Please email me if interested. We need

an initial head count to determine if this trip is feasible.