2024-2025

Spanish for the Health Professions, Undergraduate Certificate

Department of Global Languages and Cultures

College of Arts and Letters

This certificate, designed for students pursuing careers or employed in health-related professions, focuses on Spanish language acquisition for cross-cultural communication. It also emphasizes cultural and social knowledge of the Hispanic world necessary for the better development of healthcare practices.

  • To receive an undergraduate certificate (at least 15 units) at Northern Arizona University, you must complete a planned group of courses from one or more subject matter areas with a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0.

    Please be aware that federal financial aid is not available for some certificates if the certificate is pursued and completed as a stand-alone certificate (i.e., not completed concurrently with a degree program). See the "Details" tab for additional information.

In addition to University Requirements:

  • Complete individual plan requirements.

Students may be able to use some courses to meet more than one requirement. Contact your advisor for details.

Minimum Units for Completion 19
Major GPA 2.0
Foreign Language Required

Purpose Statement

The Certificate Program in Spanish for Health Professions at Northern Arizona University equips students with a multifaceted skill set that prepares them for a diverse range of opportunities in the healthcare field. This not only addresses the immediate needs of the healthcare field but also empowers students to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of healthcare, making it more inclusive, culturally sensitive, and equitable. Graduates emerge as versatile professionals with the skills to address linguistic and cultural barriers in healthcare, contributing to improved health outcomes and greater access to quality care. Beyond achieving linguistic proficiency and cultural competence, this program opens doors to several promising future prospects, including Language -concordant healthcare providers; Cultural competence educators; Community health advocates; Research and policy development specialists; and Global health professionals.

Student Learning Outcomes

  • Communicate cross-culturally appropriately in their role as healthcare providers with their patients to ensure improved healthcare outcomes.
  • Initiate and maintain multimodal (i.e., oral, written, technology-mediated) interpersonal communication with colleagues, patients and their families, and medical units in a variety of situations in which medical Spanish is required.
  • Think critically using interpretive, presentation skills to communicate information in multimodal formats (i.e., short reports, prescriptions, instructions, descriptions, diagnoses) on topics of interest within the healthcare system in the typical genres within the medical field.
  • Apply their communicative skills through service learning in the community and professional areas that are accessible to all students, including those who do not travel abroad while in their programs, to become cultural binding agents in their current or future careers.

Certificate Requirements

  • This certificate may be pursued and completed concurrently with a degree program or as a stand-alone certificate. Federal financial aid cannot be used if the certificate is completed as a stand-alone certificate.

Additional Information

  • Be aware that some courses may have prerequisites that you must also successfully complete. For prerequisite information, click on the course or see your advisor.