NEW COURSE IN SPANISH FOR HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS

Health care professionals know soothing words do little good if they are in the wrong language. Old Dominion University is offering a newly designed class in the coming fall semester -- Spanish for Health Professionals -- for majors in the health sciences and for practitioners in health and related fields. The course will be taught in the Batten Arts and Letters building on the main campus in Norfolk, Virginia on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 1:00 p.m.

Spanish for Health Professionals is intended for students who are pursuing careers in the health professions as well as for currently practicing health professionals. The course will also prove useful for first responders such as police officers and firefighters, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), emergency management specialists, communications specialists and others who frequently need to assist persons whose primary language is Spanish.

Spanish for Health Professionals will combine practical, hands-on instruction with active conversation and role playing situations. Standardized, non-dialectic form of contemporary Spanish, which can be understood by native Spanish speakers from any country of origin, will be used throughout. Special regional variations and everyday figures of speech will also be addressed. Textbooks and formal classroom instruction will be supplemented by special presentations, guest speakers, talks by community representatives and use of the ODU language laboratory. The course will also emphasize the acquisition of useful Hispanic cultural competencies by the participants.

Pre-requisites for the course include the successful completion of at least two semesters of college level Spanish, that is, Spanish 102 or its equivalent, or three years of successful Spanish course work at the high school level. Experience dealing with Spanish speaking persons and travel to Spanish speaking countries are also useful preparation for Spanish 296.

Spanish for Health Professionals has been developed and sponsored by the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, with the support and cooperation of the College of Health Sciences. For additional information call 683-3973 or 301-8797.