Essential EM Spanish header

Learn the Exact Phrases You Need to Treat Spanish-speaking Patients in the ED

Earn 23 Category 1 CME Credits - Learn at Your Own Pace

What If Talking to Spanish-speaking patients wasn't So Hard?

If you’re like most EM clinicians, communicating with Spanish-speaking patients can be a struggle.

Maybe you just try to “get by” with limited Spanish, or maybe you wait for an interpreter.  

Either way, it can take up a lot of your time, and the result isn’t always satisfying.  

I’ve seen this over and over again, and that’s why I created this course.  

Enter: "Essential EM Spanish"

Essential EM Spanish will teach you the exact skills you need to confidently perform a complete H&P in Spanish.  

You’ll also learn how to explain testing, treatment, and disposition to your Spanish-speaking patients.

That way, you can feel more connected to your patients, and also provide them better (and faster) care.  

Join over 750 students who’ve enrolled in this course, so you can start improving your medical Spanish skills today.

Learn Conveniently On the Go, At Home, Or Even At Work

In Essential EM Spanish, you’ll learn relevant Spanish phrases using a combination of video, audio, text, and a mobile app.

I designed it that way so that you can learn anywhere, any time — even if you’re busy (and I’m sure you are). 

You can also listen, watch, read, or quiz yourself.  In other words, you can adapt the course to your learning style.  

Using These Tools

Use Video Lessons to master key medical Spanish phrases
  • For visual and auditory learners, see and hear all the phrases on video
  • Quiz yourself as you go along, and repeat the phrases for practice
Learn Medical Spanish with Audio Lessons
  • There’s also an audio version of every lesson, so you can listen conveniently in your car or at the gym
  • Hear the phrases, quiz yourself, and repeat them for practice
Essential EM Spanish course manual
  • If you’d rather sit and read, the PDF manual includes all the vocab in the course
  • It also goes in-depth on Spanish basics, anatomy, bonus phrases, and more
medical Spanish Cheat Sheets You can use at the bedside
  • With the “cheat sheets”, you can see the English & Spanish phrases side-by-side, for each chief complaint
  • These are great for reviewing, or even at the bedside with a patient
A Mobile App helps you learn or review medical Spanish phrases
  • Get constant access to all the core vocab, and hear the pronunciation on demand
  • Like the “cheat sheets”, the app works great for reviewing, or at the bedside with your patient

Learn to Manage Common ED Scenarios, From H&P to Disposition

In Essential EM Spanish, you’ll learn how to manage the 10 most common chief complaints in the Emergency Room (see list below). 

5 bonus sections* cover other important scenarios, like stroke, cardiac arrhythmia or arrest, a more detailed review of systems, and dispositioning your patient.  

While there’s no way you could be ready for every possible situation, with this course you’ll be able to handle the majority of cases with Spanish-speakers.

*Note: The 5th bonus section (COVID-19) was added in the 2021 update, and isn’t listed in the image below.

Most common chief complaints in the emergency room
Essential EM Spanish Bonus Sections

For each chief complaint, you’ll learn the Spanish phrases you need to handle an ED visit from start to finish.  

In other words, you’ll be able to take a history, do a physical exam, and explain your plan for testing, treatment, and disposition to the patient.

Who Created This Course?

Ben Tanner, Essential EM Spanish faculty close-up

Ben Tanner, PA-C

Ben Tanner is fluent in Spanish, and has been practicing emergency medicine in Las Vegas since 2014. 

He’s officially certified to communicate with Spanish-speaking patients without an interpreter, and does so routinely. 

Carmen Vega medical interpreter

Carmen Vega, CMI (Certified Medical Interpreter)

A native Spanish speaker, Carmen Vega has been working as a Spanish interpreter with emergency department and other hospital patients in Las Vegas since 2010. Carmen reviewed phrases used in the course to refine and improve translations.

Essential Emergency Medicine Spanish

  • Learn to manage ED visits in Spanish, from start to finish
  • Practice at home, at work, or on the go
  • Earn 23 Category 1 CME Credits

Communicate Effectively Even if You
Don't Know any Spanish Yet

If you don’t currently understand any Spanish, you can still talk to your Spanish patients using this course.

That’s because you’ll use mainly yes/no questions.  

For the other questions (short answer), we’ll teach you the basic terminology you need to understand the patient’s response.

Use yes or no questions in Spanish so you can understand
Use Short Answer questions
Use plain language so patients can easily understand
manage a complete ED visit in Spanish

To make sure the patient can understand you, you’ll use layman’s terminology throughout the course.

Ultimately, the course is designed to guide you through every step of an ER visit.

Additional Bonus Topics

But wait, there’s more. 😉

Basic Spanish Grammar & Vocab

If you’re a total beginner with Spanish, you can at least get the fundamentals down with this course. 

For example, you’ll learn basic grammar, simple pronunciation rules, numbers, time, and some of the most common Spanish words.  

All of this info is super common and useful!

Anatomy, Bonus Phrases, & Differential Diagnosis

For each chief complaint, you’ll also learn:

  1. Relevant Anatomy 
  2. Extra bonus phrases (that didn’t fit on the main list)
  3. What differential diagnoses were considered, and why

Medical Specialties

As a final bonus, you’ll learn how to say all the common medical specialties.

That way, you’ll have an easier time telling patients whom to follow up with, who will consult on their case in the hospital, or why you need to transfer them to a different hospital.

What Other ED Clinicians are Saying:

Price Levels

Physician

$ 695
  •  

PA or NP

$ 495
  •  

All Others*

$ 295
  •  

(*Students and EMS personnel may also contact [email protected] to request an individual discount code.)

Who Is This Course For?

Essential EM Spanish is for you if:

  1. You wish to connect more deeply with your Spanish-speaking patients
  2. You want a curated list of relevant phrases and vocabulary for emergency medicine
  3. You’re willing to put in some work to learn key vocab for the ED

Who Is This Course NOT For?

Essential EM Spanish may not be for you if:

  1. You’d rather not spend time improving your language skills
  2. You expect to become completely fluent right away
  3. You don’t see Spanish-speaking patients

Frequently Asked Questions

23 AMA category 1 CME credits

The course was designed with your busy lifestyle in mind. Even if you have no spare time, you can still listen to the audio on your commute or at the gym.  You can also use the Cheat Sheets or the mobile app for quick review during shifts, or as a reference at the bedside.

All of the above.  The course provides education on basic Spanish, and the patient questions are mainly yes-or-no so that even a novice can understand the answers.  On the other hand, there is plenty of medical vocabulary that even a lot of intermediate and advanced speakers won’t already know, so almost anyone can improve their skills with this course.

That’s why the course is designed with mainly yes/no questions. The rest of the questions are short-answer, and the course will teach you enough Spanish to understand those answers as well. However, if a patient refuses to cooperate and goes off on tangents, a dialogue is provided in the course manual (on page 4) to let the patient know you don’t understand and help them get back on track.

Of course you should still offer to use an interpreter, but you probably won’t need one nearly as often!

At a minimum, you’ll have access through the current expiration date (Nov 2024).  But mostly likely even longer, as we plan to keep renewing the accreditation each time it expires.  

Have More Questions?

Those were just a few of the FAQ’s.  For the full list, visit the FAQ page.  

If you’d like to see what the course materials look like and sound like, you can see samples and demos on this page.

And if you still have more questions after that, feel free to send me a message through my contact form.

Looking Ahead

Imagine yourself a year from now. 

Will you still feel frustrated when you encounter Spanish-speaking patients? 

Or, with the help of this course, will you gain the confidence and skill you need to communicate clearly with them, leading to a better experience for both you and the patient?

By starting today, you can build a skill set that will serve you for the rest of your career (and life). 

Ready to Start Improving Your Medical Spanish Skills?

*The button above will take you to ceme.org, where you can sign up for Essential EM Spanish. 

Use the “REGISTER/TAKE COURSE” tab to login or create an account.

(A discount code may be applied at checkout.)