Medical Spanish is designed for working medical professionals (or those soon entering that field) who already possess high intermediate-through-advanced Spanish proficiency.  The course focuses extensively on expanding and deepening medical vocabulary, essential grammatical structures, and the cultural subtleties needed to interact effectively with Hispanic patients.  Understanding the sociocultural framework of Spanish-speaking patients will be a critical part of the course.  Class times will be based on homework practice, and will focus on situational dialogues that model typical conversations found in a variety of healthcare settings.  Students will improve the accuracy and breadth of their medically-oriented Spanish, enabling more effective interactions, such as eliciting a medical history, comprehending Spanish descriptions of symptoms, and bridging communication among a patient, her/his family, and the medical institution.  The development of useful Spanish conversational skills in a medical context will be the paramount course objective.