USA offers Spanish certification for healthcare professionals
The four-course program is available to current and future healthcare professionals who have an undergraduate degree and are interested in building or expanding their language and cultural skills.
Healthcare professionals can now obtain a graduate certification in Spanish from the University of South Alabama College of Arts and Sciences. The four-course program is available to current and future healthcare professionals who have an undergraduate degree and are interested in building or expanding their language and cultural skills.
The mostly online program can typically be completed in three to four semesters. Fall registration is open until Monday, Aug. 17, and spots are limited.
Zoya Khan, Ph.D., associate professor of Spanish and director of USA’s Spanish for Healthcare Professionals, said there are not enough healthcare providers with speaking proficiency and cultural knowledge to meet the needs of the Spanish-speaking population, which is increasing throughout the United States.
“This new certificate is designed to equip our healthcare providers with the requisite language proficiency and cultural competency to communicate with Spanish-speaking patients,” Khan said. “Improved communication with this large patient demographic should enable healthcare practitioners to be even more effective in treating their Spanish-speaking patients.”
Three of the program’s courses are offered fully online, and the fourth is a practicum, which can be fulfilled in one of two ways:
- Internship option that allows students to work remotely or in person with a healthcare facility serving a predominantly Spanish-speaking population in the United States or in any part of the Spanish-speaking world.
- Remote simulation offered through USA’s new simulation lab.
The program consists of these courses:
GIS 511: Introductory Spanish for Healthcare Professionals: 3 credit hours
GIS 512: Intermediate Spanish for Healthcare Professionals: 3 credit hours
GIS 512: Advanced Spanish for Healthcare Professionals: 3 credit hours
GIS 514: Practicum Spanish for Healthcare Professionals: 3 credit hours
For more information, email zkhan@southalabama.edu or call 251-460-6291.
