Spanish Lesson 10: Health, Medical Practices, and Culture

Vocabulary flashcards covering health terminology, cultural practices, historical figures, grammatical concepts, and geography from Lesson 10.

el consultorio

Doctor's office

el oído

The inner ear or the sense of hearing

la oreja

The outer ear

torcerse (el tobillo)

To sprain (one's ankle)

romperse (la pierna)

To break (one's leg)

mareado/a

Dizzy or nauseated

congestionado/a

Congested

sala de urgencias

A regional Spanish term for emergency room (sala de emergencia) used in Argentina, Colombia, Spain, and Mexico

catarro

A regional Spanish term for a cold (resfriado) used in Cuba, Spain, and Guatemala

Arco de Cuchilleros

One of the ten access points to the 400-year-old rectangular Plaza Mayor in Madrid, Spain, where Juanjo fell while posing for a photograph

Asociación Parkinson Alicante

A Spanish association that launched a werewolf-themed public awareness campaign to inform society, fight indifference, and raise funds after experiencing a loss of subsidies during the economic crisis

la guardia

The term used in Argentina to refer to the hospital emergency room

la práctica

Hands-on medical training or rotation completed by medical students in Argentina before receiving certification

René Favaloro

An Argentine surgeon who developed the coronary artery bypass (bypass coronario) in 1967

Federico Benetti

An Argentine surgeon who developed a cardiovascular surgical technique without extracorporeal circulation in 1978

Óscar Arias Sánchez

Former president of Costa Rica (born 1941) who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987

Franklin Chang-Díaz

A renowned Costa Rican engineer and astronaut born in 1950

la carreta de bueyes

An oxcart decorated with bright geometric patterns; a Costa Rican national symbol used from 1850 to 1935 to transport coffee from the Central Valley to Pacific ports

colón costarricense

The official national currency of Costa Rica

Impersonal se

A construction in which non-reflexive verbs are combined with se and conjugated in the third-person singular (for singular nouns) or plural (for plural nouns) to make statements without defining the subject

Se for unplanned events

A construction formed with se + indirect object pronoun + verb + subject that de-emphasizes personal responsibility for accidental or unplanned occurrences

Antonia Novello

A physician from Puerto Rico who served as the first female and first Hispanic Surgeon General of the United States from 1990 to 1993

Cómo hacer un viaje saludable y feliz

An autobiographical, humorous book written by Carla Baron offering tourist health advice based on her personal travel experience in Puerto Rico

farmacia de guardia

A designated pharmacy present in each neighborhood of Spanish-speaking countries that remains open 24 hours a day

cruz verde

A green cross symbol displayed by pharmacies in many Spanish-speaking countries that indicates the pharmacy is open when illuminated

droguería

A large retail store selling personal care goods like soap and shampoo with few or no medications, although in Colombia it is synonymous with a regular pharmacy

achiote

A South American medicinal plant whose boiled and strained leaves are used as a gargle to relieve throat inflammation

ají

A plant whose seed pastes (cataplasmas) are used in Peru to soothe rheumatic pain and torticollis (stiff neck)

sábila

Aloe vera; a plant whose leaf juice is applied twice daily over several months in Latin America to reduce scars

curanderos

Traditional healers in the Americas whose knowledge relies on observation and tradition, specializing mainly in treating physical illnesses

chamanes

Shamans in the Americas who act as conflict mediators and community advisors, specializing primarily in afflictions of the mind and soul

Manuel Elkin Patarroyo

A Colombian doctor who synthesized the first synthetic malaria vaccine in 1986 and assigned the patent to the World Health Organization (WHO) in May 1993

Parque Nacional Tortuguero

A national park located on the Caribbean coast north of Limón, Costa Rica, where multiple turtle species come ashore at night to lay eggs