The graduate certificate in Spanish for the Veterinary Professional is intended for students in DVM programs and practicing professionals in veterinary medicine who have obtained an undergraduate degree. It develops intermediate-level, field-specific communication skills in Spanish that are fundamental for consulting with Spanish speaking pet-owners about animal health. Additionally, it develops awareness on relevant diverse cultural perspectives surrounding animal care and on how to increase access to veterinary medicine to Spanish speaking community members.
Students interested in graduate work should refer to the Graduate and Professional Bulletin.
Learning Objectives
Upon successful completion, students will be able to:
- Preventative Care: Gather patient and client information and discuss best practices in preventative care (vaccination, parasite control, reproduction status, and diet) using simple, sentence-level discourse, appropriate question-formation structures, and targeted, field-specific terminology.
- Describing physical states and behaviors: Obtain information about and describe animals’ physical states and behaviors using appropriate Spanish terminology, simple, sentence-level discourse, and appropriate question-formation structures.
- Health History: Take patients’ health histories using appropriate Spanish terminology, question-formation structures, and a basic past-tense time frame. This includes the ability to track comprehension of client input about their animal’s health and provide appropriate sentence-level summary statements of understanding.
- Diagnostics: Use appropriate Spanish terminology and sentence-level discourse to provide basic explanations of the diagnostic results and their associated illnesses or conditions.
- Treatment and follow-up: Use appropriate Spanish terminology and sentence-level discourse to recommend treatment options for common illnesses and conditions in veterinary medicine. Provide information about associated risks, medication administration, and basic instructions for at-home care.
- Culture & Accessibility: Identify and analyze differences between their own cultural patterns and those of Spanish speaking pet owners and animal caretakers from different cultural backgrounds. Pinpoint and address areas of potential cultural misunderstanding to foster increased access to veterinary care for LEP Spanish speaking community members. Utilize information that is taught to design a clinic that is accessible to LEP Spanish speaking clientele.
Effective Fall 2024
Additional coursework may be required due to prerequisites.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| LGEN 704 | VM Cultural Awareness and Access to Care 1 | 1 |
| LSPA 700 | Spanish for Veterinary Wellness Appointments | 2 |
| LSPA 701 | Spanish for Veterinary Health Histories | 2 |
| LSPA 702 | Spanish for Veterinary Diagnostics | 2 |
| LSPA 703 | Spanish for Veterinary Treatment Plans | 2 |
| Program Total Credits: | 9 | |
- 1
LGEN 704 is taken in the third semester of the program.
*This certificate may have courses in common with other graduate certificates. A student may earn more than one certificate, but a given course may be counted only in one certificate.