Learning Medical Spanish Abroad

YankeeHater · May 6, 2009

I took a medical spanish course in Costa Rica and would highly recommend it. I stayed for 4 weeks and learned a lot. Costa Rica is a beautiful place and the people were all amazing. The most important thing was staying with a host family so that you are forced to practice all the time, not just during school hours. They will welcome you into everything they do and make you feel like a part of the family- and you will be learning all at the time!

Buena suerte...

BonnieSc · May 6, 2009

I studied in Guatemala for a month and chose not to do a specific medical program; the teaching was one-on-one and my teachers were able to teach me anything I wanted to know. I could also have volunteered at a clinic if I'd chosen--the school would have set it up for me. I did a lot of research before going and found that Guatemala had the lowest prices (by far in some cases) and a very high quality of teaching. You can get one-on-one instruction, room, and board in Guatemala for what you'd pay just for the group classes in most other countries! I loved the country as well. My school was http://www.spanishschools.biz and I'd highly recommend it, and there are many other great schools also.

stellina615 · May 6, 2009

Thank you both for your responses. It's been about 7 or 8 years since I've taken a formal Spanish class, but I have picked up some swears from my Spanish-speaking patients in the interim :nono: ! I plan on brushing up before going abroad, but would you mind sharing your opinion on: 1) the level of familiarity you should have with a language before undertaking this kind of experience and 2) how many weeks should I plan on in order to really benefit from it? Thanks again for any input!

-Erin

BonnieSc · May 6, 2009

I wouldn't worry about any level of familiarity. I think most of the students I talked to down in Guatemala had felt some vague sense beforehand that we ought to study up in the US in order to take full advantage of being down there, but none of us really did it--and you progress SO much faster there that I don't think the effort would be that worthwhile. I saw people learn as much in one week as I learned in a whole year of high school Spanish, no exaggerating. As for the minimum time... I'm going to say three weeks.