WesternU Offers Medical Spanish Courses

Area health care students and practitioners wishing to improve their

intercultural communication skills are invited to attend beginning and

intermediate medical Spanish courses October through early December.

The two four-week courses, sponsored by Western University of Health

Sciences (WesternU) and the Claremont Graduate University (CGU) Division

of Extended Learning, will be held Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30-8 p.m.

on the WesternU campus, 309 E. Second Street, Pomona. The courses are open

to WesternU students, alumni and area health practitioners.

The “”Beginning Medical Spanish”” course runs October 19-November 11, with

the “”Intermediate Medical Spanish”” course starting November 16 and running

through December 9. Each course is $173 (not including books and

materials). A discount is available to WesternU students.

Individuals who are interested in taking the courses should register at

the WesternU Bursar’s Office. Registration deadline for the first course

is September 24. Registration deadline for the second, intermediate

course, is October 22.

“”Our goal is to provide health care students and health professionals with

Spanish instruction that will enhance their patient communication skills,””

said Joy Kliewer, PhD, assistant to the executive vice president for

distance learning and educational outreach. “”The courses will emphasize

the use of Spanish in realistic, medical-setting situations.””

Cristina Moon, the Spanish placement advisor at the UCLA Anderson School

of Management and part of a team at UCLA creating a medical Spanish

textbook, is the course instructor.

As California’s Hispanic population continues to grow-U.S. News and World

Report estimates Hispanics now represent 30 percent of the state’s

population-health professionals can expect to care for more patients whose

primary language may be Spanish rather than English.

“”Spanish proficiency would be the ideal, of course,”” Dr. Kliewer

said. “”The more a health care professional can speak one-on-one with a

patient – taking a patient history, or giving treatment instructions – the

better.

“”But even a little can do so much. Making the attempt to speak to a

patient in his or her own language can go a long way toward building

rapport.

“”These are the kind of person-centered, humanistic skills we emphasize at

WesternU and we are delighted to be offering this course in partnership

with Claremont Graduate University.””

For more information on the medical Spanish courses, contact Dr. Kliewer

at (909) 469-5302 or via e-mail at joyk@westernu.edu.