Future doctors learn Spanish in Rochester, New York

“In a small classroom in the University of Rochester’s School of Medicine and Dentistry, 16 students sat laboring over the gerund in “la muela me esté doliendo,” or “my molar is hurting.”

Among all the courses on anatomy and biology, as well as the required clinical work, UR’s medical school also offers Spanish classes. The idea was spawned by med students.

“It really came out of my own interest in Spanish,” said Adrienne Allen, a fourth-year medical student from New Jersey who learned most of her Spanish working in a homeless shelter in Boston before starting medical school. “Language is such an important part of getting medical histories and stories. Once you get to medical school, it’s difficult to keep (those skills) up.”"

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