Customer Reviews

McGraw-Hill's Spanish for Healthcare Providers : A Practical Course for Quick and Confident Communication

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Full of phrases for a beginner and great for review and learning of Spanish Speakers. This is a must for all volunteers going to a spanish speaking country for volunteer work, and for all healthcare providers to learn from a few phrases to an advanced Medical vocabulary.

Everyone learns differently, but some principals of learning are universal (had to economize on words to fit all in here). I was dissapointed with the format of these CDs (SHP for short). I learned ALL my spanish from two sources (*HIGHLY RECOMMEND*)- Global Access Span.(GAS for short) by McGraw-Hill cassette ver. (now on CD but dont know if format same),and STRONGLY recommend "Speedy Span for Medical Personel". The first is for tourists, but I learned grammer and conjugations from it. Second one VERY compact pocket-size six page pamphlet on laminated cardstock with almost every sentence a doctor needs, arranged in order of standard H & P: greet-complaint-Hx-Px-Dx-Tx-Discharge. Truly amazing and for some docs may be all you need. SHP only says each word or phrase once, Spanish then English. GAS says each twice, Spanish then English (repetition key to learning). SHP doesn't emphasize grammer or syntax, just rote memory of words and phrases. Single words are followed by a short typical dialog between Doc and patient, arranged by system. So it throws long sentences at you before you have a grasp on grammer. GAS starts with basic pronouns, steadily builds on them, teaching verb conjugations as you go., GAS comes with dictionary, complete written script of all cassettes arranged by chapter and vocabulary booklet to extend your word base. SHP has sometimes unrecognizable pictures with only the spanish word under it. Both great for the car. SHP gives 30 CME credits. Old ver. of GAS only on tape, but I'm burning them onto CD for my new car (no tape deck). SHP not written by doctors (reviewed by MDs though) and it shows. GAS has begin, intermed., and advanced sets depending on how fluent you want to be, but you need to get your medical phrases from the above pamphlet, SHP, or another source. Neither one really teaches the idioms of Spanish since I found patients dont always understand the formal grammer these teach. SHP probably does a better job at this than GAS. The time I spent on this eval. shows how strongly I feel since more clinics are needing Spanish abilities every day.

I purchased this product because it is specific to the medical profession. The book is a great resource. The book has various exercises to reinforce new words and concepts (I.E. crossword puzzles, fill in the blanks, sample dialouges) It has tips and cultural differences (say this is Spain vs. say this in Mexico).
I had a very hard time with the CD's. I constantly had to adjust the volume and replay the sections. I had to use the book frequently to clarify pronunciation with the male speaker. The male speaker sounds like he is talking with a mouth full of marbles. He does not enunciate well.(If you work in an ER you may be used to your patients sounding like this). Overall, the book is great but don't pay extra just to get the cd's.

Product was in great shape and as described; would definitely buy from this seller again!