Accelerated Review of Spanish for the Health Professions: Class Visit to Casa de Salud

The SPAN 1200 Accelerated Review of Spanish for the Health Professions class took a field trip to Casa de Salud, a non-profit health clinic that delivers services to new immigrants and refugees, on September 6, 2019.

Casa de Salud director Jorge Riopedre shared a powerful presentation of the current crisis in our health care system and how it affects immigrants and refugees. He called for a shift in our cultural mindset that blames the working poor and foreign-born people for their own poor health and chronic health needs. He pointed out that key issues such as unsafe housing conditions, lack of transportation, the overwhelming paperwork and bureaucratic system, lack of interpretation, and living in or near food deserts all contribute to people’s inability to get access to meaningful health care. He encouraged students to look at our society and public health in order to improve conditions for all of us.

SPAN 1200 is a four-credit hybrid class combines the first two semesters of Spanish into an in-depth experience that fast tracks learning and prepares students for internships abroad or working in the community. Beyond basic Spanish language skills, medical terminology and cultural topics are embedded into this course designed for health professions.