The Hispanic Healthcare Certificate Program consists of two advanced 3-credit-hour courses:

SPAN 3339: Spanish for Global Professions (3 credits)

All skills course geared toward the language of various professions including social and community work, business, journalism/mass communications, medicine, education, law, and hotel and restaurant management. This course emphasizes cultural knowledge to enhance professional work in the U.S. Hispanic community. It focuses on the importance of bilingualism in the U.S, strategies for lifelong learning, and culture considerations; it includes a review of relevant language.

Students communicate in Spanish while learning about bilingualism and bilingual professionals in a US context. It focuses on helping students to develop communication strategies that will allow them to continue learning about language and cultures long after they graduate and embark on their careers. In this course, students will:

• Develop and apply strategies that can be applied to make her/himself understood and to understand others in communicative situations through in class discussions and role playing situations.
• Gain an appreciation of bilingualism in the professions in the United States.
• Analyze readings from the Spanish language press in the United States relevant to cultural and professional information.
• Practice receptive as well as productive skills
• Develop presentational skills in Spanish with the use of Powerpoint or other visual aids.
• Analyze the historical and economic factors that impact migration and the use of Spanish in the United States.

Prerequisite: Intermediate or Post‐Intermediate Spanish.

SPAN 3343: Spanish for the Health Professions (3 credits)

All‐skills course with review of vocabulary on the health professions, grammar, extensive writing and speaking practice. Readings and activities geared toward the language and culture of medical and health care professions within the context of the U.S. Hispanic community.

This course will provide the students with cross‐culture understanding and the vocabulary health professionals need to communicate effectively with Spanish‐speaking patients, clients and their families. The class is targeted to students in the health professions who seek to learn the phrases and vocabulary they need to cover everything from routine office visits, treatments, prescriptions among others. The aim of this course is to bridge the communication gap between physicians, pharmacists, nurses, clinic workers, aid agencies, and emergency responders and their Spanish‐speaking clientele.

Prerequisite: Intermediate or Post‐Intermediate Spanish.

For questions about the Core Courses, please contact: 

Laura Zubiate, Ph.D. 
U.S. Latino Literature
Spanish for the Global Professions Coordinator
Department of Hispanic Studies
438 Agnes Arnold

713-743-3007
mlzubiate@uh.edu