Voices en Español

Good news for Spanish-speaking doctors, nurses and medical professionals everywhere…the Real Academia Nacional de Medicina is developing the first ever dictionary of medical Spanish terms. (Pretty surprising that one doesn’t already exist.) Anyway, this medical Spanish dictionary will have more than 50,000 entries, along with its equivalent terms in English, as well as short biographical sketches of famous doctors, like Hippocrates, Sigmund Freud and Louis Pasteur, among others. Another cool thing about this dictionary that will dramatically increase its usefulness to medical professionals, are the listings and explanations of frequently used, but incorrect, medical terminology used in Spanish.

The publisher plans to do a first printing of 40,000 copies, with many of those copies destined for the United States.  According to the El País news report, numerous libraries in the United States have already expressed strong interest in ordering the dictionary when it becomes available. This medical Spanish dictionary is expected to hit booksellers sometime around the end of 2009.

In the meantime, if you need to get your fix of medical Spanish, check out Dr. Molly Martin’s Medical Spanish podcast. If you already have a solid foundation in the Spanish language and are looking for ways to expand your vocab and knowledge of medical Spanish terms, this is the place to go.

Here’s to your salud!