Customer Reviews

Complete Medical Spanish : A Practical Course for Quick and Confident Communication

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am a nurse who works with many Hispanic patients. This is the best book I have found for learning how to communicate with Spanish-speaking patients. Unlike many other books, it starts off (logically) with introductions and other simple phrases and then gets into conjugation of verbs later on. It has great exercises (with answers in the back!) that are helpful. It also includes variances of words that differ from country to country (e.g. Mexico vs. Puerto Rico, etc) and examples of phrases that don't translate well from English. I would definitely recommend this book if you want to learn how to communicate with your Spanish-speaking patients.

This book is exactly what I hoped for!

If you are a fairly intelligent, motivated learner who wants to start with the basics, progress quickly to the conversational level, and get a good grasp of grammar while learning medical words and phrases, this is the book for you.

I am now almost halfway through the book, and I have learned grammar, vocabulary, all the body parts I could ever need, and even slang words!

Another thing I like is that terms used in different parts of the Spanish-speaking world are discussed, so you will know which word to use, depending where you are (or where your patient is from).

Each chapter is broken down into sections. Each section starts with some vocabulary (and an accompanying picture). Then there might be a grammatical discussion or a discussion of how to talk about taking pills. Then there are some exercises (this is the only thing I think there could be more of, but you can always make up your own sentences for practice).

What this book is not: It is not a list of medical phrases that you have to memorize. That has been my experience with every other medical Spanish book... if that is what you are looking for, you are better off with a CD. However, I doubt you will really become conversational after memorizing a bunch of phrases.

It also is not great about helping you with pronounciation. However, you probably know 100 other people who speak Spanish, so just ask one of them to go through your vocabulary with you!

Bottom line: a perfect book for nurses, NP's, PA's, MD's who want to communicate better with their patients.

I actually bought the 3 cd package written by the same authors called: 'spanish for family practitioners" for $23. Inside is this book, Complete Medical Spanish : A Practical Course for Quick and Confident Communication. I'd actually recommend getting the ones w/ 3 audio cd's since the vocabulary and dialogue is on cd and u could go around listening to it on the car. I had hs spanish so this book isn't too hard.

Pro's:
1. good value w/ 3 cd package.
2. poor value if u just get the book.
3. In the 3 cd package, the first 2 cd's have vocabulary in spanish/then english; and dialogue only in spanish for this book. The first cd has info from chapters 1-3. The 2nd cd has info for chapters 4-9. The 3rd cd has info from an extra booklet that's mainly dialogue (i.e. nurses, health professionals, EM, FP). persoanlly, i don't find the 3rd cd/booklet that useful at all for the FP section (I'd gotten the FP book simply cuz it was only one in stock when i ordered).


Con's
1. Some of the pics/icons look like a 3 yo drew them so not very good at identifying objects.
2. didn't like how they put most of the vocab in the beginning and left grammer for the end. i'd like it to be more intro to grammer in begining.
3. didn't like how the pics for body parts didn't list the english names of the objects...i.e. were they pointing to the forehead or hair?
4. they didn't have audio for some verbs, optho, derm, etc.
5. didn't feel that the fill-in exercises were that useful.

In summary, i'd say at $23 for book+3cd or $10 for book alone is a decent price. You get what u pay for so I can't complain too much. The cd w/ vocab was main reason i got it, and it's cheaper than the other products out there.

This book is great. I had some basic knowledge in Spanish, but forget it since high school. This book made it easy to catch back on, and explains Spanish for a new learner. Not only does it go into common medical dialogues, with descriptive, or yes/no answers, but also teaches basic verbs, nouns, and conjugations of the verbs. The pictures dont have Spanish/English captions, only Spanish, but there is a guide in the back. This book will teach you everything you need, and then some. If you are looking for a book, this is the one.

This book is intended to be a practical learning tool to get the medical provider to not only be able to state the usual medical phrases, but to have knowledge of the spanish language to actually communicate. It's a tall order, and for a one volume set, it performs well. Starts with the alphabet and "mucho gusto", runs through common verbs, conjugation and vocabulary used in a medical setting. Extremely practical spanish, and definitely not a tourism/conversational course with a few medical terms thrown in.
There are CDs in a different set, as well as audio CDs on the Rios website. I HIGHLY recommend you get some CDs, as the book makes a lot more sense. It's difficult to learn to actually talk a lagnuage from a book.
Small issues - the book covers conjugation, but it's one of the trickier elements to the spanish language, and native speakers aren't going to understand you (and you them) unless you have lots of experience with verbs, so you are probably going to need to get additional resources in that department.
Also, there are some medical dialogues in the book, but I wish there were more.
Great book, good luck practicing!

This is a solid medical dictionary that even has sections about folk and herbal remedies and cultural recommendations for folks from various backgrounds in the Spanish-speaking world. I highly recommend it, espcially as a companion to other online, disc-based or live Spanish instruction. The sections are well organized by medical discipline or symptoms and covers terms the medical or helping professional is most likely to run across.

I have studied and read this book as well as taken the course taught by the author. I have found this method of learning medical Spanish to be highly effective. I immediately was able to connect and communicate more effectively with my patients that speak Spanish only. I recommend this book to any medical professional that wishes to communicate more clearly with their Spanish speaking patients. All it takes is a little effort!!!

This book and the accompanying CDs are the best resource I have found in the way of "how-to" books for learning medical Spanish. The choice of translations is very accurate and the Spanish is generalized in that it will be understood by Hispanics from any country. The writing is personable and engaging, and there is a wealth of information on Latin culture. As an internist who has worked with Spanish-speaking patients for the last 20-odd years, I can say that the subject matter is very relevant and the questions are carefully phrased to ensure accurate responses. Very well done! I recommend it highly.

Glenn Rogers, M.D.

I like this book because it'll really give you an idea how spanish language is constructed plus the exercises after each topic which appears to be too elementary but very helpful, indeed. Good price for a sensible book. If you're a beginner in the heathcare world, this is it! Eureka!

This is a great, well-organized overview of medical Spanish. However, you will not be able to buy the 3-CD set that it's supposed to come with. McGraw-Hill no longer makes the CD set, as per a representative from their company. I wish I would've known that before buying the book!