Spanish and Cultural Immersion Course 2025

Spanish and Cultural Immersion Course is organized by Hospitalito Atitlan and will be held from Apr 13 - 19, 2025 at Hospitalito Atitlan, Santiago Atitlan, Sololá, Guatemala.

Enhance professional Spanish skills in a community hospital setting:

• Taking medical histories.
• Identifying chief complaints.
• Conducting physical examinations.
• Attending morning reports.
• Communicating with specialist.

Program Features:

• Small classes (six students per session).
• One-on-one instruction with experienced local Spanish language teachers.
• Rotating lectures by Hospitalito faculty.
• Introduction to the modern indigenous Maya city Santiago Atitlán.
• Tour of cottage industry weavers under the auspices of the ’13 Batz’ (thirteen threads) a Maya Weavers Cooperative.
• Introduction to local Maya Culture via a walking tour of the village.

Sample Schedule:
Day 1

• Introduction to Medical Spanish
• How to take a Medical, Social, Occupational and Family History.
• Immunizations.
• A screening of Balancing the Cosmos, offering an introduction to Maya traditional culture, followed by a walking tour of the town and an introduction to the use of healing plants with a Maya shaman.

Day 2

• Physical exam, chief complaint, treatment, follow up, lab, and systems vocabulary.
• Discussion of challenges to managing disease in the context of the Maya belief system.

Day 3

• Medications, contraception and pregnancy, delivery and breastfeeding.
• Luncheon presentation by Hospitalito social worker on healthcare decision-making process within families.

Day 4

• Poisoning, drug and alcohol abuse, physical and sexual abuse, rape, AIDS.
• Geriatrics.
• Infectious diseases in Spanish-speaking countries.
• Screening of film ‘Ixcanul’ and discussion about women’s health issues in Guatemala.

Day 5

• Psychiatric care in Latin America
• Diseases in the developing world