UVa-Wise to offer Spanish course for area medical professionals

Area medical professionals with an interest in learning Spanish for their careers will now have the opportunity thanks to a new course at The University of Virginia’s College at Wise.

“Spanish for the Professions” (Spanish 323) is a course geared toward professionals in all areas of medicine, including doctors, nurses, in-take professionals and physician’s assistants.

“There is a real need at the national level for medical professionals who can communicate with our Spanish-speaking population, and this need is growing in our region as well,” said Anne Gilfoil, associate professor of Spanish at UVa-Wise. “This course will prepare students and local medical professionals for treating Spanish-speaking patients.”

The course will be offered on the UVa-Wise campus each Tuesday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. Rafael Gonzalez, a teaching fellow of Spanish, will instruct the course. The class will begin Jan. 22, but registration will continue until Jan. 29.

The course is intended for beginning-level students. The first week of class will focus on the basics of Spanish phonetics and pronunciation. In the following weeks, students will learn how to conduct a medical history interview and learn vocabulary and expressions associated with various medical specialties. Students will perform Spanish-language interviews and examinations of their fellow students to round out the course.

Interested professionals have three options for course registration:

· The course will be offered for credit. A grade will be given in conjunction with three official credit hours to the student who successfully fulfills the necessary requirements of the course.

· The course may be offered on a credit/no credit basis. Students will be expected to fulfill all the necessary requirements and obtain a passing average of all the tests in order the receive credit for the course, but will not receive a grade.

· The course may be audited also. Students may attend the lectures and participate in the course, but will not be given college credit.

For more information, contact Anne Gilfoil at 276-376-4555 or awg2d@uvawise.edu.

The only branch campus of the University of Virginia, UVa-Wise is ranked among the nation’s top ten public liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and World Report. UVa-Wise offers Virginia's only undergraduate degree in software engineering, among 28 other degrees and professional programs in the liberal arts tradition of Thomas Jefferson.

Posted January 18, 2008