Introducing Yourself to Patients in Spanish

Today I’ll share a few ideas about how to introduce yourself in Spanish.

Obviously the details will vary by specialty, location, etc. But hopefully this gives you some useful ideas. 

Video Version

(FYI, this video is also available as a podcast. Details below.)

Introducing Yourself as a Physician

• Hola, soy el/la doctor(a) _____
• Hi, I’m doctor _____

If you’re a man, you’d say “el doctor”. If you’re a woman, you’d say “la doctora”.

• Cómo se llama usted?
• What’s your name?
• Por qué ha venido aquí hoy?
• What brings you in today? (literally: “why have you come here today?”)

The last question is open ended, so if you want to keep it simpler and use a yes/no question, try something like:

• Ha venido aquí porque [le duele la espalda]?
• Have you come because [your back hurts]?

Naturally, you’d change the part in brackets depending on the chief complaint, which they probably told your assistant or someone else.

For example, it could be, “le duele el abdomen?” (your abdomen hurts), or “tuvo un accidente?” (you had an accident/injury).

Introducing Yourself as Something Besides a Physician

If you’re not a doctor, you’d generally say your name, and then your profession, like so:

• Hola, me llamo Ben, soy asociado médico
• Hi, my name’s Ben, I’m a PA

Other titles you might use:

• Nurse = enfermero / enfermera (-o for men, -a for women)
• Paramedic = paramédico
• PA* = asociado médico
• NP* = enfermero practicante / enfermera practicante

*PA’s & NP’s are confusing in Spanish. For more ideas about what to call a PA or an NP check out this post for PA’s, and this one for NP’s.

Clarifying Your Role

The rest of the basic intro is similar to the physician dialogue above. But if you’re not a doctor, you might want to clarify more about your role.

For example, as a PA I might say something like:

• Voy a estar encargado de su cuidado en la sala de emergencias hoy
• I’ll be in charge of your care in the ER today

Depending on your job, you’d modify that sentence to something that makes sense.

Additional “Get to Know You” Phrases

• Mucho gusto en conocerle
• A pleasure to meet you
• Cuántos años tiene?
• How old are you?
• De donde es?
• Where are you from?
• Vive cerca del hospital?
• Do you live close to the hospital?

Hopefully that gave you a better idea about how to introduce yourself to patients in Spanish.

For additional medical Spanish dialogues, check out my podcast!  Details below. 🙂