ABSTRACT
In this chapter, students of Beginning Medical Spanish will acquire the necessary oral communicative skills that will allow them to describe and elicit descriptions of patients (physical characteristics and personality traits) using adjectives and the verb (ser). They will also be able to introduce other medical employees and identify their specialties or occupations to patients using (ser). By the end of the chapter, students will be able to identify rooms, units, centers, departments, and public spaces in a medical setting using the verbs (haber). Students will develop an awareness of how to respond to patients with cultural humility when learning about Hispanic culturally-based practices with regards to self-treatment and the purchasing of prescribed medication. They will acquire an understanding of the practices of using botánicas or hierbería/yerberías rather than pharmacies for the acquisition of medications or self-treatment, when medication is not immediately available. Practicing cultural humility implies instead of superiority and is other-oriented rather than self-focused. Responding and learning from patients with a humility-based approach reinforces the understanding that cultural practice should not be assumed, because they are inevitably shaped by the individual’s personal beliefs and multidimensional identity.
