Rating: - Relatively Boring Medical Spanish
Very few illustrations and no color graphics or text boxes! Line after line of Times New Roman font.

Heavy emphasis on Spanish grammar. Each chapter builds on a basic grammar concept and walks you through an entire Spanish lesson while teaching you a few medical terms along the way.

If you've never taken a Spanish class before, you will appreciate the workbook format of this book and its focus on grammar. If you have a basic understanding of Spanish, you will be bored.

For example (taken out of context, of course):

Lesson 10: The Verb "To Give" (...)
Translate into Spanish:
I give the pencil to him. __________________________________
I give the pencil to her. __________________________________
I give the pencil to you. __________________________________
Pepe gives the pencil to me. __________________________________
I give the results to him. __________________________________

And so on...

However, the appendices list all the medical Spanish vocabulary and phrases you need, and are great for making flash cards. The 20 pages of lists at the end of the book are all you need if you already have a decent grasp of Spanish grammar. In fact, some lists have more than you really want to know. For example, 55 words are given to describe pain.

In short, it may be relatively painless, if you're the type of person who likes to rip off a Band-Aid slowly.... Very slowly...

 

Rating: - great product
So far I'm only 1/3 of the way through but I already feel like I've learned a ton of medical spanish. It's very easy to go through on your own and the author's jokes and light-hearted tone keep you wanting to go through more. I definitely recommend this book if you're a medical student, doctor, nurse, etc. and in need of some basic-to-intermediate Spanish skills.

 

Rating: - DRAFT 1
I am a medical interpreter in a large hospital. I still consider this book to be in its draft form. There are spelling and grammar errors in both the Spanish and English. The format looks like it was type set with an ancient word processor. Before you purchase this manual check it out at your local bookstore, however if you still decide to purchase it do so on amazon.com so that you save enough money to buy a better one later.

 

Rating: - No Pain No Gain
I recently joined a Medical/Surgical expedition to Peru. This book was invaluable in giving me a quick overview of spanish before this trip. I recommend it very highly!! It not only helped me with communicate with Peruvian physicians and patients but it has also stimulated my desire to continue the study of spanish for future use.

 

Rating: - Good book for individual learning
I am a Spanish/English bilingual medical student who teaches a course in Spanish for medical students. This book is an excellent text for students and workers in the allied health professions to learn to communicate with Spanish-speaking patients. The book takes a subject which is inherently boring (learning a language) and makes an excellent effort at spicing it up. The author uses humor appropriately (a lesson taught with humor is a lesson retained), and practical examples to drive lessons home.

That said, I chose not to use this book for my course because it does not lend itself well to group instruction. While I recommend it as an additional reference to my students, I would recommend that medical Spanish instructors review other books that might include group exercises and better facilitate lesson planning.

Rating: - Can't Miss
Remember the teacher you loved? No way you would have failed that class, right?
The same will be true of Ana Malinow's medical-Spanish course.
The vocabulary is relevant. (The author is an M.D. and a native Spanish speaker.) The grammar is designed for communication, not parsing. The teacher is gently funny on every page, and forgiving of every failure except failure to try.
"Remember to open your mouth wide," she advises regarding Spanish pronunciation. "You cannot have marbles in your mouth when you speak Spanish. (You will have to find another place for them.)"
You will wish Ana Malinow were in the room. Her book is the next-best thing.

 

Rating: - Best Manual for Medical Spanish
I found this to be the best book out there to quickly learn medical spanish. It sounds like the two reviewers listed here who gave this book bad marks are advertising their own products and probably didn't even read the book. Not only is the book excellent to learn basic medical spanish but it was written by a doctor who also has excellent examples of spanish use in medical practice. How many of medical spanish books have been written by a physician? Very few. As a practicing physician who sees many Spanish-speaking patients this book is a must. Again, the two reviewers who gave this book low marks, took the examples out of the context since most of the book is geared towards examples in the medical setting. I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in learning medical spanish without any painkillers.

 

Rating: - A GREAT WAY TO STUDY SPANISH FOR MEDICAL PEOPLE
I absolutely love this workbook -- I've amazed my Mexican boyfriend with how fast I've picked up the language, just using this book. For people in medicine, it is a GEM. Thank you, Ana!!!

 

Rating: - Don't waste your money.
I have been teaching Spansih for 10 years and now I own a business which provides customized Spanish curricula for businesses of all types. I purchased this book thinking I might use it for my medical clients. Was I ever wrong! This amateurish and awkwardly designed curriculum for "medical Spanish" is useless. First, it is virtually impossible to learn to SPEAK Spanish by just studying a book. On the grammar side, the "grammar" lessons are sprinkled with ridiculous sample sentences such as "The foot is big. The foot is in the mouth." There are a few helpful phrases, but a medical provider buying this book thinking it will help them learn medical Spanish will be very disappointed. As for me, I decided to design my OWN curricula which is TAUGHT to my clients so that they role-play and otherwise practice SPEAKING medical Spanish! Don't waste your money. - Wanda McDonald, The Language Connection USA

 

Rating: - Relatively Painless Medical Spanish
I began to work in a clinic for the working poor in which 80+% of the patients are Spanish speaking. I speak English and German, neither of much help.

I purchased a copy of this book in a local outlet mall and have been exceptionally pleased. The material presented in the book is very well targeted to medical Spanish and has enabled me to pick up pertinent words and phrases very quickly. The book does not spend much time on non-medical Spanish so it is not for the person trying to learn to speak Spanish in general.

I don't know how much my knowledge of German has sped the process, there is no doubt it helps, but I believe this book is very good for anyone needing to learn the basics of medical Spanish. Actually, since it is in workbook form, I have ordered another copy so that I can go through it repeatedly until the material becomes second nature.

Rating: - Relatively Painless Medical Spanish
I began to work in a clinic for the working poor in which 80+% of the patients are Spanish speaking. I speak English and German, neither of much help.

I purchased a copy of this book in a local outlet mall and have been exceptionally pleased. The material presented in the book is very well targeted to medical Spanish and has enabled me to pick up pertinent words and phrases very quickly. The book does not spend much time on non-medical Spanish so it is not for the person trying to learn to speak Spanish in general.

I don't know how much my knowledge of German has sped the process, there is no doubt it helps, but I believe this book is very good for anyone needing to learn the basics of medical Spanish. Actually, since it is in workbook form, I have ordered another copy so that I can go through it repeatedly until the material becomes second nature.

 

Rating: - Manual for Painless Medical Spanish
I have used the book, "Manual for Painless Medical Spanish" by Ana Malinow Rajkovic for my classes this past semester and every person said they really liked the book. The book was used in a class rather than independent study and they all liked the text.

Several factors contributed to this factor. They liked the print, the practice exercises, the answers for reinforcement and the size of the book. There is a manageable amount of work with a good variety. I would highly recommend the book and am using it again this fall.

There are a few typing errors which could easily be corrected. It was a pleasure to use the book and would look forward to a sequence to this book along with a tape for reinforcement.

 

Rating: - Disappointing
I was expecting a good crash course in Spanish for health workers but this was a disappointment. Spends too much space on basic grammar, sentences you will never use ("Pepe has a short pencil" "The pencil of Pepe is short") and not enough space teaching phrases and sentences you really need to communicate with your spanish speaking patients. Remember those absurd language courses with their stilted dialogues? This is more of the same. For a much better course, try "essential spanish for health care" by Living Languages" That contains plenty that you can use immediately.

 

Rating: - Great Book
I'm a medical student without any prior Spanish, and I did find this book to be a relatively painless way to learn Spanish. Her approach is good because: 1) She interjects humor and her exercises are somewhat funny and therefore more memorable 2) She is not too rigid. She will tell you the correct way of saying something but recognizes that the reader's purpose is to be able to communicate, even if one's grammar isn't perfect (We're not learning to be a translator for the UN). 3) She mixes things up so that one doesn't get bored. For example, her vocabulary lessons are well-interspered throughout the text.

Nonetheless, it is difficult to learn medical Spanish from this book alone. I had to consult my wife, who is a Spanish speaker, for feedback about correct pronunciation (which can be somewhat difficult to get out of this book alone). Also, of course, it's difficult to learn without practicing with other people.

I short, I think that this book is an extremely worthwhile purchase, but I am looking to supplement it with an audio or CD-ROM purchase and possibly a course.

 

Rating: - Good place to start medical Spanish
Having taken 4 years of Spanish in high school, I wasn't starting from scratch, but I was certainly rusty and unfamiliar with medical terminology. This book was very easy to read and not as dry as some of the others I looked at. It's a good place to start if you have no background in Spanish, or if you need a refresher.
 

Rating: - Exceptional workbook for medical Spanish
This book was the single most useful tool I used in order to prepare for clinical rotations in a hospital where 60-75% of patients were primarily Spanish-speaking. I went from being hopeless ("que?") to functionally conversant in a couple of months. The time investment is minimal, about 4-5 hours per week, in order to complete this workbook in 8 weeks. I am recommending it to other medical students and medical residents who wish to acquire language as a tool in their practice with Spanish-speaking patients.

 

Rating: - An excellent resource for medical vocabulary!
As a language teacher, I am using the book as a tool to learn medical terms to use with patients on a missions trip. I have found it easy to use and extremely practical. It is also humorous which encourages you to keep plugging on. There are some small grammatical errors, but nothing which detracts from the usefulness of the book.

 

Rating: - Excellent!!!!
This book actually teaches you all of the things you really do need to know to work with spanish-speaking patients. It is a workbook in which the exercises form the bulk of the text although every now and then she will add some short, information-filled paragraphs. It is this teaching technique that makes this manual so successful. This is not to say that you don't have to work at it but as she claims she makes it relatively painless and even fun. I highly recommend this book to anyone who works with spanish-speaking patients in a medical setting but who are not themselves, spanish speaking.

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