title: Interpreting medicine: lessons from a Spanish-language clinic.
abstract: Caring for patients is an act of interpretation: we labor to understand the significance of a particular symptom and, when we have reached a diagnosis, we convert our medical jargon into plain language for the benefit of the patient. Caring for patients of limited English proficiency-a population that needs a very literal form of interpretation-underscores this lesson. Working with predominantly Spanish-speaking patients has shown me the importance of bearing witness to patients' struggles and has brought me to realize that good physicians must work to forge a common language with all their patients, not only with those who do not speak English.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois benjamin.brown@uchospitals.edu.
authors.forename: Benjamin P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D000739:Anecdotes as Topic; D003144:Communication Barriers; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D020380:Needs Assessment; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011247:Pregnancy
keywords: immigrant health; interpretation; limited English proficiency