This program is an intensive Spanish course designed for people related to health (doctors, nurses, paramedics, etc) or people who expect to work in the medical sector and need Spanish in their workplace. The course is held at the Universidad Latina of Costa Rica, one of the most important private universities in the country. The course is 2 weeks long and it focuses on the improvement of the language skills with a special emphasis on health vocabulary and real situations in clinics or hospitals.

The program includes one visit per week to health centers such as hospitals, private clinics and community health centers. Students will learn about the facilities and technology used in the country and will have the possibility to talk to and interview doctors, nurses and people who work in the hospital.

DATES
Program	JUNE, 2008	JULY, 2008	OCTOBER, 2008
Dates	Jun 16-Jun 29	Jul 14 - Jul 27	Oct 13 - Oct 26
Price	$1,750	$1,750	$1,750
Application Due Date	Apr 27, 2008	Jun 06, 2008	Sep 10, 2008
Final Forms & Payment Due Date	Jun 01, 2008	Jul 01, 2008	Sep 30, 2008
Hours of instruction 40 - 2 weeks

PRICE INCLUDES

Airport Pick Up and departure

Tuition and fees

1 Spanish class for health professionals (40 contact hours)

Class materials

Visits to hospital, private and communitarian clinics

Access to school and office facilities: internet, ID, library, student’s services

Certification issued by the University and ILASO

ILASO’s on-site director available 24/7

Home stay in an individual room with a Costa Rican Family (Breakfast lunch and Dinner included, laundry and the fantastic experience of living in a different culture)

Cultural Activities

Insurance

PRICE DOES NOT INCLUDE

• Airfare Ticket to Costa Rica

• Personal expenses

• Costa Rican Airport Exit Fee ($26)

PROGRAMS - (The program offers 3 levels)

BASIC (40 Contact Hours) - click to see program

In this level doctors, nurses and students will be able to give instructions to the patients, express and understand the patient’ s needs, pain and wishes. Students will be able to understand and express personal descriptions, situations and handle daily routines in hospitals, pharmacies and health centers.

INTERMEDIATE (40 Contact Hours) - click to see program

This level Hill allow the students to be able to express a complex dialogue with patients, compare situations, express future plans, give instructions and acquire a more complete, kind and courteous vocabulary.

ADVANCED (40 Contact Hours) - click to see program

At this level, students will be able to Express in a complex way wishes, opinions, future plans with conditions, alternative ideas, reproduce a message and read complex information and articles in Spanish.

There is a need in the United States for culture-equivalent assessment of health-related quality of life, particularly among people who speak different languages and among those with low literacy skills. Yet many patients who need medical interpreters have no access to them. According to one study *, no interpreter was used in 46 percent of emergency department cases involving patients with limited English proficiency. Few clinicians receive training in working with interpreters; only 23 percent of U.S. teaching hospitals provide any such training, and most of these make it optional. Data collection on patients' primary language and English proficiency is frequently inadequate or nonexistent. **

In 1998, the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services issued a memorandum regarding the prohibition, under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, against discrimination on the basis of national origin — which affects persons with limited English proficiency. This memorandum states that the denial or delay of medical care because of language barriers constitutes discrimination and requires that recipients of Medicaid or Medicare funds provide adequate language assistance to patients with limited English proficiency.

* Baker DW, Parker RM, Williams MV, Coates WC, Pitkin K. Use and effectiveness of interpreters in an emergency department. JAMA 1996;275:783-788

** Youdelman M, Hitov S. Racial, ethnic and primary language data collection: an assessment of federal policies, practices and perceptions. Vol. 2. Washington, D.C.: National Health Law Program, October 2001.