Graduate Certificate in Spanish for Health Professions

Advance your career in healthcare and develop the cultural sensitivity needed to work with Latinx and Spanish-speaking patients with the Graduate Certificate in Spanish for Health Professions in the College of Liberal Arts at Temple. Students who earn this certificate deepen their knowledge of the Spanish language and broaden their intercultural competencies so they can more meaningfully communicate with the Latinx community in healthcare settings.

Tailored for current healthcare professionals, this 12-credit graduate certificate program is offered completely online, allowing you to complete coursework while working full time.

Through the Spanish for the Health Professions Certificate (Graduate) program, you will 

• develop skills to navigate the varieties of language used by target populations;
• hone your ability to interpret and translate between Spanish and English; and
• practice and improve your aural, oral, reading and writing skills by explaining procedures, describing diagnoses and completing intakes in Spanish, using the most appropriate language for the situation (e.g., clear, simple language or specialized medical terminology).

Additionally, students develop cultural competencies by studying the Latinx population in the U.S. and through assignments that address the diversity of this population’s cultural concerns and expectations in healthcare, as well as the cultural norms that inform them. Coursework explores the most prominent health issues in a given community, allowing students to engage with patients on these topics.

Program Format & Curriculum

All courses in the part-time Graduate Certificate in Spanish for Health Professions incorporate best practices in online learning, including the following.

• Asynchronous online learning, which is completed on students’ own time and combines student language learning with the content and strategies needed to serve the target population. These include Latinx health issues, translation/interpretation strategies and medical vocabulary.
• Livestreaming course delivery, which links students to Temple’s Spanish faculty, honing oral skills through authentic communication including roleplays, group discussions and seminars in Evening Synchronous Sessions.

Students can complete the certificate in one academic year if courses are taken consecutively; however, students may take up to two years to earn the certificate.

The Spanish for the Health Professions Certificate (Graduate) curriculum includes the following four required courses.

• Advanced Medical Spanish, in which students use their Spanish for a specific purpose: providing health services to a Spanish speaker or intervening as an interpreter or translator to facilitate the practice of some aspect of medicine.
• Latino Health Issues in the U.S., in which students form an understanding of the cultural, economic, environmental and medical factors that play a part in an individual’s health, wellness and care within their community. 
• Spanish for Health Professions, in which students acquire a foundational knowledge of the medical language and cultural practices pertinent to interactions in a healthcare context that includes Spanish-speaking and Latino patients.  
• Spanish/English Interpretation Techniques for Healthcare, in which students are introduced to the ethics and techniques of interpretation and translation used in healthcare settings. 

Learn more about the Spanish for the Health Professions Certificate (Graduate) curriculum. 

Careers

The Spanish for the Health Professions Certificate (Graduate) program is designed for individual healthcare professionals who wish to better prepare themselves to more efficiently and effectively serve the Latinx population. Additionally, organizations can enroll a cohort of employees to meet the state and the nation’s goal for quality and accessible healthcare.