Medical Spanish Program
Our program successfully assists medical professionals to become more effective health care providers through Spanish-language development coupled with the opportunity to augment cultural sensitivity through complete immersion in native Latin American culture.
All grammar topics are taught in the context of medical terminology and expressions. The goal of this course is for students to have the necessary language skills in order to provide quality health care to Spanish speakers.
Any person who works in the health care field can take this specialized course to learn Spanish with emphasis on medical vocabulary.
Medical Observation
In addition to the Spanish classes, students can take the medical observation for an extra fee. The medical observation is optional, only available at CPI Heredia and limited to advanced beginner speakers and higher. The observation will allow the students to practice their newly acquired linguistic skills at a local clinic during the course while in Heredia.
The medical observation provides the opportunity to see the inner workings (general medicine) of a private clinic in San Joaquín de Flores.
The observation is offered for a few hours a week according to the availability in the clinic. All arrangements should be made at least two weeks in advance and schedule will be confirmed to the student directly at CPI Heredia the first day of classes.
On the first day at the clinic, a CPI staff member accompanies the participant for introductions.
For the Medical Observation please bring:
- A document that certifies that they are a medical student or professional
- A white lab coat
Price and Registration Form
COST: US$600 per week
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Read more!Testimonials
Medical Student.
"CPI was a great place to transform my knowledge of Spanish from high school grammar into a useful clinical skill.
We covered vocabulary, conversation, cultural issues and grammar that came up along the way all adapted to the level of the students in the class. Being able to observe a public clinic my last week further increased my ability to use Spanish in clinical situations, and living with local families was a fantastic learning experience for both language and culture.
The staff were great at taking care of anything I needed and made the whole experience very easy and low stress for someone traveling alone."
"My experience at CPI Flamingo has been wonderful. I have learned more Spanish in 5 days than I ever expected. The Medical Spanish Course will definitely be helpful to me as I begin my career in Nursing. Gabriela is a very good teacher. She is smart, warm, welcoming and she teaches in a manner that makes it easy to learn.
I have sincerely enjoyed my time here. I will miss Flamingo but I am excited to continue my studies at CPI Monteverde.
Cardiology, Retired
Columbia, SC, USA
"I am a retired cardiologist and now volunteer in two charities both of which serve a high percent of Spanish speaking clients. I have always wanted to speak a second language, too, and after study in various institutions of learning available in Columbia, SC, I felt the need for greater fluency and believed that greater immersion and specific instruction in medical Spanish vocabulary would be valuable. I knew Costa Rica has been a stable, viable democracy for many years and I learned of CPI and its medical Spanish
program in a web search.
I have been so pleased with all my CPI encounters from e-mail correspondence to transport. But especially the drills and lessons in language fluency and grammatical accuracy have been just for what I had hoped. The teachers are knowledgeable and infinitely patient and pleasant. I was properly placed for my existing level of Spanish fluency.
The addition of clinical experience in the clinic in La Carpio demonstrated real life situations in which the vocabulary was put to practical use in my direct patient interviews.
My experience has been extremely helpful and positive. I can easily strongly recommend the program at CPI for all so interested and inclined."
"I gained valuable experience with the medical program. The Spanish classes are focused on medical terminology used in typical conversations with patients. I also had the opportunity to visit a public hospital and a private clinic to observe the differences between the public and private healthcare systems of Costa Rica. I applied my knowledge from class while interviewing patients in Spanish. It was a great opportunity for me to practice my medical Spanish while obtaining clinical experience."
