Episode 124: Medical Spanish for Beginners.

Drs. Axelsson, Kooner, and Arreaza explain the basics of medical Spanish.

Hi! Thank you for joining us for this episode of Rio Bravo qWeek. This is a bonus episode on medical Spanish for beginners. We will teach you the most basic Spanish words you can use during interactions with Spanish-only speakers. Grab your notepad and follow along phonetically! We will also post a transcript of this episode so that you can see the words if you’re a visual learner.

Introductions of participants:

Fiona: Hi, my name is Fiona and I am a 3rd-year resident here at Rio Bravo Family Medicine. I’m also Canadian, so my Spanish was not good when I came to this program. I’m hoping this episode will help me brush up on my Spanish and that it will also help you! Whether you’re a medical student or resident, we could all use a refresher on basic medical Spanish. With me today I have Dr. Hector Arreaza and Dr. Gagan Kooner.

Arreaza: Hi, I’m Hector Arreaza, and I’m a frequent host for this podcast. You may be used to my soft and somewhat unintelligible voice [humor]. I’m from Venezuela, I know some Spanish. 

Kooner: Hi, I’m Dr. Gagan Kooner. I am a PGY1 at Rio Bravo family medicine. I am Punjabi. grew up in Bakersfield. So, when I heard about this episode of the qWeek podcast, I knew I wanted to be a part of it.

Fiona: He’s been modest, his wife is Hispanic.

Preliminary information:

Arreaza: Not everyone who looks “Hispanic” speaks Spanish. We have people in our community from different indigenous groups, mostly from Mexico, and Central America who speak Spanish as a second language. Hispanics have different levels of English proficiency.

Fiona: Hispanic is not a race–it is a culture. Hispanics can be of different races, ranging from White Europeans, Black, Indigenous, and even of Asian descent.

Kooner: Not all Hispanics are Mexicans: Mexico is the country with the highest number of Spanish speakers, but there are 20 Spanish-speaking countries in the world. Spanish has many variations in some countries.

Basic pronunciation:

Fiona: Thank you Dr. Arreaza and Dr. Kooner. Just to set the agenda, as all good clinicians do, let’s lay out what we will discuss. First, we’ll start with Greetings and Common Courtesies. Once we’ve mastered that, we will move on to body parts and family members. Is anyone feeling like they’re back in kindergarten? Next, we will focus on Critical Questions and a brief ROS. This will be helpful in your emergency medicine and hospital medicine rotations. We will then learn how to master a physical exam in Spanish and will end with Good-bye’s and a few miscellaneous items like “Más o Menos”. 

Dr. Arreaza, why don’t you give us a quick intro into Spanish vowels!

Dr. Arreaza: Thank you Fiona, I think that’s a great idea. In Spanish, all of our vowels are pronounced exactly like they sound. A-E-I-O-U

Introduce yourself:

Fiona: Alright, so let’s say I knock on my patient’s door and want to introduce myself by saying, “Good morning, my name is Dr. Axelsson.” 

Kooner: And as a side note: we will repeat the phrases a couple of times so that we can all master the language.

Arreaza:

—[good morning] Buenos días

—[buenas tardes] Good afternoon

—[buenas noches] Good evening 

—“Hola, Me llamo Fiona, estoy esperando al intérprete” [Hi, my name is Dr. Axelsson, I‘m waiting for the interpreter]

—Kooner: Note that doctor is for male and doctora is for female.

—Estoy aprendiendo español [I’m learning Spanish]. 

—Por favor, hable despacio [please speak slowly]
—¿Cómo se llama? [what is your name?]

Common courtesy words:

Fiona: Okay, now that we can say hello and let them know who we are and what we