There are some great Spanish Intensive programs for health care professionals
in and around Bay Area California.  Some are weekend intensives, some are
night programs, some arrange for learning overseas (Mexico, Costa Rica and
Guatemala).  Global Exchange in San Francisco is one.

I am almost fluent (accent good, grammar so-so, my writing is terrible) in
Spanish.  About 60 percent of my patients are monolingual Spanish speaking.
In California (similar to Illinois, Texas and the Northeast) we have many
languages spoken here (54 in the residency program I trained in San
Francisco).

My next step is to learn something in the other languages that my other
patients speak (Portuguese, Assyrian, Lao, Hmong and Punjabi are the other
"major" languages in my patient population).  Finding breastfeeding
information (simple brochures, tapes, anything) in these languages are a
struggle.

I've noticed that even when I struggle in the language that my patient's
speak, they are far more receptive than if I don't try at all.

All the Best,

Pierrette Mimi Poinsett, MD FAAP
Modesto CA

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