Spanish

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>I heard that a few medical schools in CA require Spanish. Will more schools be looking for, if not requiring, Spanish, given the shifting demographics in the US? Does it give an applicant an advantage if they are Spanish speaking, even if they are not fluent, if they are applying elsewhere in the country?</p>

2

<p>As a first year pre-med student who has studied all kinds of professional health schools (dentistry, pharmacy, optometry, etc.), I haven’t seen foreign language requirements, much less a requirement for Spanish, on professional school admissions. Of course, I have seen some schools that say they recommend students to have fluency in foreign languages, and especially in Spanish, as you said.</p>

<p>The plain answer is, no, there is no requirement to know Spanish on paper, but it will definitely give you a slight upper hand if you do know Spanish. Medical school, like any other professional school, is extremely competitive to get into and even the slightest upper hand may help. And knowing a foreign language these days gives you an advantage in most industries, fields, or applications these days.</p>

3

<p>Like Gotlactose said, there are several schools that recommend or strongly recommend Spanish; of course, when a medical school “strongly recommends” Spanish, that’s an indication that they’d probably like you to have taken Spanish. The Puerto Rican schools require Spanish. If this list is still accurate, it might provide something:
<a href=“http://web.jhu.edu/bin/m/z/add_reqs.pdf[/url]”>http://web.jhu.edu/bin/m/z/add_reqs.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I’m not sure whether knowing Spanish would help in other, more northern states. I imagine it might, but I’m just guessing. Perhaps somebody more experienced could shed some light?</p>

4

<p>Necessary? No.
Helpful? Sometimes.</p>

<p>Some schools, such as UCLA and PR schools, are known for informally or formally requiring Spanish (speaking ability and/or coursework). It may also give you a hook for interviews and your PS but you have be near-native fluency to really claim Spanish-speaker status.</p>

5

<p>Spanish is nice, but quite honestly any bilingual pairing of living languages is likely to be valuable at some point in your medical career. Spanish is probably most likely to be used frequently in the US, but at the same time it is also the most commonly known among health care professionals. Chinese, French, Korean, Arabic, etc. I’ve had friends fluent in these be called upon to translate.</p>

6

<p>Its definitely a factor when getting the job itself.</p>

7

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/818413-spanish-medicine.html?highlight=spanish[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/818413-spanish-medicine.html?highlight=spanish&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Other relevant threads can be found via a Search for “Spanish”.</p>