Cómo te sientes? is a common phrase used by nurses and doctors. Those who attended a free Spanish for Medical Fields seminar, sponsored by Del Mar College’s Communications, Languages and Reading Department and designed to build attendees’ Spanish speaking and listening skills, learned that and much more at the Nov. 20 event.
Some students were at the seminar to learn introductory Spanish but others were there to help build their knowledge of the medical field. The instructors presented vocabulary pertaining to the human body and scenarios related to hospitals and clinics.
“I learn medical terms in Spanish, phrases and questions. I also learn what to say when it comes to an emergency,” said Javier Narvaez, a DMC student.
Derek Dimas, another DMC student, already knows what he wants to do in the future and has a lot of experience under his belt to help him continue on as a health care provider.
“This is my passion. My goal is to go to medical school to continue my education in the field of nursing because, being a nurse, you get to learn more about the patient,”Dimas said.
Childhood obesity is the No. 1 reason Dimas wanted to create a program to help kids learn about making healthy choices. Studies show that children who are obese are more likely to have diabetes later on in life.
“I started a program called Child with Fruit, which is to decrease childhood obesity. I go out to CCISD schools along with having a partnership with Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and Del Mar,” Dimas said.
Many students find what they love through doing it themselves; others find it through watching others or having family members doing the same thing that sparks their interest in that field.
“My parents inspired me to go into the field I am in,” said Chunan Li.
Learning another language is incredibly useful, especially in the medical field. Understand the patient in their native language and the doctors and nurses understand them will help both the doctors understand the problem with the patient but also not have the patient struggle to form words in English to help the doctor. Medical physicians are here to help the patients and their community.
