Medical Spanish Program

INTRODUCTION

We offer an intensive three week course in medical Spanish based in the lovely seaside community of Ensenada. Sponsored by Xochicalco University, the program is led by Dr. Oscar Martinez with the assistance of his able physician colleagues. In addition, Dr. J. Dennis Mull of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles has been a consultant to the program since it begun in 1988. Medical students from all over the USA have taken this course with over 95% giving it very high evaluations. Here are its main components:

1) The Family Experience. A cornerstone of the Ensenada program is living with a Mexican family and their children. Students have breakfast and the main (noon time) meal of the day with the family that they are assigned to live with. A class session on household Spanish vocabulary on the first day paves the way for this popular experience.

2. The Human Body: Using anatomy models, with intensive student-faculty interaction, the Mexican physician faculty teach the anatomical terms, both scientific and popular, in small group sessions.

3) Medical History. The Spanish version of the complete history and physical exam is taught in the classroom by physicians. Drawing on his extensive experience caring for Spanish-speaking patients in the USA, Dr. Mull contributes to the teaching.

4) Patient Interviewing. The medical interview is practiced by the students who practice on each other under faculty supervision before doing actual exams.

5) Clinical Experience. In the last week of the course, students go to the area clinics, both emergency rooms (accompanying the Mexican physicians as they care for their patients) and community clinics (where students learn to understand the sociocultural aspects).

6) Community Experience. Students interview families in their homes in Spanish, in a barrio community at the periphery of the town. This allows them to see first hand traditional Mexican life, as well as practicing their Medical Spanish.

7) Cross-Cultural Training and International Health. As a complementary learning experience,
Dr. Mull give afternoon seminars on Mexican culture and on international health with particular reference to Mexico.