Published on March 16, 2021

Medical Interpreting in Spanish Minor

In conjunction with the Health Sciences Department, the World Languages and Cultures Department is excited to announce a new academic minor – Medical Interpreting in Spanish (MIS).

For health service professionals, knowledge of medical Spanish is no longer an option, but a necessity. Language barriers pose real health risks and can lead to negative health outcomes. Today’s health service professionals need to be prepared to break through those barriers, and Eastern’s new MIS minor helps do that.

The MIS minor, available for the first time in Fall 2021, is for students preparing for a career in health services, from nurses, physicians and medical aids to pharmacists, dentists, EMTs and more.

The aim of the MIS minor is to develop critical skills that future healthcare providers can use to improve communication with Spanish-speaking patients. The curriculum is designed to raise awareness about the influences and the role of language that intersect with access to healthcare among Spanish-speaking patients.

The minor requires 18 credits in a combination of Spanish, health services and public health courses, such as HSC 225 Medical Terminology, PBH 330 Principles of Global Health, and SPA 404 English-Spanish Translation. Notably, the MIS minor requirements feature a new course, HSC/SPA 415 Medical Interpreting and Translation.

For more information about the MIS minor, contact Kin Chan in the World Languages and Cultures Department or Yaw Nsiah in the Health Sciences Department.