Being a doctor takes much more work than just diagnosing a patient. Some people view doctors as doing just that and leaving the rest to nurses and hospital staff on hand, but there really is so much more that doctors need to know than just what will helps them pass their boards. There are some skills that doctors will benefit from having on their resumes that they may have never thought of. Though it would seem like cruel punishment to require doctors to go through even more training and school than they do now, they could benefit from going through business courses, a course in having good bedside manners, and most importantly, a second language. As more and more immigrants come into the United States, Spanish speaking doctors are a necessity and here's why. Family Even if a patient can speak English, there are a lot of family members of patients who cannot communicate in English. A patient who has parents or other family members who do not speak English will choose a Spanish speaking doctor over a doctor who only speaks English almost every time. It isn't just important for a patient to be comfortable, but for the family to be comfortable as well. When a patient is sick, it is unlikely that they will be feeling up to acting as a translator throughout this process. Even when a doctor is not very good at speaking Spanish, native speakers always appreciate the effort to speak to them in an environment that they are familiar with. Bilingual doctors are likely to have more patients. Translators Almost every hospital has access to translators. However, using a translator can be very tricky. Every patient has a right to understand their health plan in their language before they sign any papers or agree to any treatment, however, depending on the size of the hospital, a translator can be hard to find and that makes it difficult to make urgent decisions. Some hospitals will have translators on standby over the phone, but many times those lines will be busy with several patients in line. The translators in person are even more difficult to find since the hospital has to hire them, and it is hard to justify hiring a translator who is swamped at times but sitting around with nothing to do the rest of the time. Doctors with a good understanding of the Spanish language can bypass all this red tape, get the signatures they need immediately, and begin treatments as soon as possible. This makes them more effective doctors. Job Search Though having Spanish speaking doctors on staff is very beneficial to hospitals, it is also beneficial to individual doctors. They will have much more success in their daily practices as well as more success landing the jobs that they would like to hav. When doctors write on their resumes that they can speak more than one language, it does more than just impress the hiring staff, but it also makes those doctors more marketable. A doctor might not have a lot of experience right out of medical school, but if he or she is willing to use language skills to help patients and the hospital or practice where they work, those doctors will be a much more desirable candidates for jobs than the next applicant who has a few years of experience under his or her belt, but lacks knowing a second language.
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