The GVSU certificate in Spanish for Health Care Professionals prepares students to be culturally and linguistically competent to better serve patients from Spanish speaking communities and backgrounds. Why study Spanish for Health Care Professionals at Grand Valley?

• Develop language proficiency with an emphasis on health and medical contexts.
• Learn and use specialized vocabulary and terminology relevant to the medical field.
• Know the health needs of Spanish-speaking communities by understanding the linguistic and cultural diversity of Spanish-speaking communities in the region.
• Engage with Spanish-speaking patients by going beyond mere verbal communication to providing care grounded in cultural understanding.

In order to complete the certificate, students must complete a total of 15 credits. Students must take four required courses to fulfill a total of 12 credits. The four required courses are:

• SPA 202: Intermediate Spanish II: Language and Culture Credits: 3
  • Students who test at the 300-level must substitute SPA 202 with an elective at the 300-level 
• SPA 300: Reading and Telling Stories OR SPA 301: Advanced Communication Through Cultural Topics Credits: 3
  • Heritage speakers of Spanish can substitute SPA 300 or 301 with SPA 302: Advanced Communication for Heritage Speakers. Credits: 3
• SPA 304: Spanish for Health Professionals. Credits: 3
• SPA 307: Death and Dying in Hispanic Literature OR SPA 313: U.S. Latino/a/x Civilization & Culture. Credits: 3

Students select one course at the 300-level as an elective to fulfill the 15 credits.

View a full list and description of courses

Available electives if not taken as required courses:

• SPA 300: Reading and Telling Stories. Credits: 3
• SPA 301: Advanced Communication Through Cultural Topics. Credits: 3
• SPA 302: Advanced Communication for Spanish Heritage Speakers. Credits: 3
• SPA 307: Death and Dying in Hispanic Literature. Credits: 3
• SPA 313: U.S Latino/a Civilization and Culture. Credits: 3

Other available electives:

• SPA 308 - Spanish Phonetics. Credits: 3
• SPA 310 - Spanish Civilization & Culture. Credits: 3
• SPA 311 - Latin American Civilization & Culture I. Credits: 3
• SPA 312 - Latin American Civilization & Culture II Credits: 3
• SPA 329 - Sociolinguistics of Spanish. Credits: 3
• SPA 350 - Spanish Laboratory Theatre. Credits: 3
• SPA 360 - Perspectives on Hispanic Culture & Society. Credits: 3
• SPA 361 - Spanish/Latin American Culture Through Film. Credits: 3
• SPA 380 - Special Topics. Credits: 3

The Intercultural Fluency in Business badge is designed for GVSU business students with some language proficiency to navigate the complexities of the 21st-century work environment, where understanding people from other backgrounds has become critical in local, regional, and international workplaces. 

Foundational, Intermediate, and Advanced level badges for Intercultural Fluency for Business are stackable. However, they must be in the same language. Business courses cannot be repeated; for each badge, the student needs a different Business course from the list of optional courses. If a student wishes to do two different languages at different levels, both levels would be recognized.

Example 1: If a student takes CHI 201 and CHI 202 + MGT 303, and the've also taken SPA 306 + MGT 466, they would earn both the Intermediate Intercultural Fluency for Business badge and the Advanced Intercultural Fluency for Business badge.

Example 2: If a student takes CHI 201 and CHI 202 + MGT 303, and they've also taken ARA 201 and ARA 202 + MGT 466, they will only earn one badge in Intermediate Intercultural Fluency for Business.

Students will need to take 4-8 credits of any MLL offered language at the 100 level plus one course from the core requirements in the Seidman College of Business. Thus, the Foundational Intercultural Fluency for Business badge will be 7-11 credits total, depending on language placement level. It will include courses from Seidman College of Business and Modern Languages & Literatures as follows:

1.) ONE Business course (3 credits). Choice of any one of the following courses: 

• MGT 303 International Business and Culture
• MGT 331 Managing People and Organizations
• MGT 366 Operations Management
• MKT 359 Multinational Marketing
• MGT 466 International Management and Multinational Corporations
• FIN 429 International Financial Management
• ACC 330 International Accounting
• ECO 369 International Economic Issues

AND

2 ) Language Courses (4-8 credits). The completion of the Beginning level course(s) (101-102 or FRE/GER/SPA 150) in any Modern language and culture, which are all 4 credits. For students who are placed into 102 (or FRE 150, GER 150, SPA 150), the badge will be 7 credits. For students who complete 101-102, the badge will be 11 credits. The language courses must be in one single language (e.g. must be ARA 101 and ARA 102 or FRE 101 and FRE 102). The following language options are available:

• ARA 101 Beginning Arabic I: Language and Culture and ARA 102 Beginning Arabic II : Language and Culture
• CHI 101 Beginning Chinese I: Language and Culture and CHI 102Beginning Chinese II: Language and Culture
• FRE 101 Beginning French I: Language and Culture and FRE 102Beginning French II: Language and Culture (or FRE 150 Accelerated Beginning French I and II: Language & Culture)
• GER 101 Beginning German I: Language and Culture and GER 102Beginning German II: Language and Culture (or GER 150 Accelerated Beginning German I and II: Language & Culture)
• ITA 101 Beginning Italian I: Language and Culture and ITA 102 Beginning Italian II: Language and Culture
• JPN 101 Beginning Japanese I: Language and Culture and JPN 102Beginning Japanese II: Language and Culture
• SPA 101 Beginning Spanish I: Language and Culture and SPA 102Beginning Spanish II: Language and Culture (or SPA 150 Accelerated Beginning Spanish I and II: Language & Culture)

Students will need to take 4-8 credits of any MLL offered language at the 200 level plus one course from the core requirements in the Seidman College of Business. Thus, the Intermediate Intercultural Fluency for Business badge will be 7-11 credits total, depending on language placement level. It will include courses from Seidman College of Business and Modern Languages & Literatures as follows:

1) ONE Business course (3 credits). Choice of any one of the following courses:

• MGT 303 - International Business and Culture
• MGT 331 - Managing People and Organizations
• MGT 366 - Operations Management
• MKT 359 - Multinational Marketing
• MGT 466 - International Management and Multinational Corporations
• FIN 429 - International Financial Management
• ACC 330 International Accounting
• ECO 369 - International Economic Issues

AND

2) Language Courses (4-8 credits). The completion of the Intermediate level course(s) (201-202) in any Modern language and culture. For students who are placed into 202, the badge will be 7 credits. For students who complete both 201 and 202, the badge will be 11 credits. The language courses must be in one single language (e.g., must be ARA 201 and ARA 202 or FRE 201 and FRE 202). The following language options are available:

• ARA 201 - Intermediate Arabic I: Language and Culture and ARA 202 - Intermediate Arabic II: Language and Culture
• CHI 201 - Intermediate Chinese I: Language and Culture and CHI 202 - Intermediate Chinese II: Language and Culture
• FRE 201 - Intermediate French I: Language and Culture and FRE 202 - Intermediate French II: Language and Culture
• GER 201 - Intermediate German I: Language and Culture and GER 202 - Intermediate German II: Language and Culture
• ITA 201 - Intermediate Italian I: Language and Culture and ITA 202 - Intermediate Italian II: Language and Culture
• JPN 201 - Intermediate Japanese I: Language and Culture and JPN 202
• SPA 201 - Intermediate Spanish I: Language and Culture and SPA 202 - Intermediate Spanish II: Language and Culture

The badge can be completed in 7 or 11 credits, depending on your language placement level. As part of the requirements, you’ll choose one three-credit business course in the Seidman College of Business. Additionally, you must complete one advanced-level four-credit course in your target language. The optional courses are as follows:

1) ONE Business course (3 credits). Choice of any one of the following courses:

• MGT 303 - International Business and Culture
• MGT 331 - Managing People and Organizations
• MGT 366 - Operations Management
• MKT 359 - Multinational Marketing
• MGT 466 - International Management and Multinational Corporations
• FIN 429 - International Financial Management
• ACC 330 International Accounting
• ECO 369 - International Economic Issues

AND

2) ONE Advanced-level language/culture course (3 credits). The course must be taught in the target language (300 level or above) in any modern language at GVSU.

• In Arabic, Chinese, German, and Japanese, students may take any 300- or 400-level course, as long as the course is pre-approved by the section coordinator.
• In French, students will choose one of the following: FRE 332 - French Unfiltered: Story of a Global Language, FRE 351 - Business French, or FRE 395 - The Power of Words: Advanced French Speaking.
• In Spanish, students will take SPA 306 - Spanish for Business.

Grand Valley's Multilingualism Undergraduate Badge allows students to develop their language proficiency while exploring cultural learning. This badge enhances students' cultural competency and understanding of diverse perspectives. Students will complete courses such as "What's Language Got To Do With It? Exploring Identity Through Language, Culture, and Literature," along with language-specific courses in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, or Spanish. The curriculum is designed to deepen students' linguistic skills and cultural knowledge, preparing them for various professional and personal contexts.

TRACK A (6 credits) - for students who have been awarded the Michigan Seal of Biliteracy in world languages taught at GVSU (Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin and Spanish)

• MLL 200 - Beyond Borders: Language Learning and the Formation of Identity (3 credits) OR MLL 300 - What's Language Got To Do With It? Exploring Identity Through Language, Culture, and Literature (3 credits) This course is taught in English.
• A 300-level language/culture/literature course at GVSU in their target language
  • ARA 380 - Special Topics in Arabic (1 to 4 credits)
  • CHI 341 - Introduction to Classical Chinese (3 credits) or CHI 351 - Practical Chinese (3 credits)
  • FRE 315 - French Conversation (3 credits)
  • GER 301 - German Composition (3 credits)
  • ITA 380 - Special Topics in Italian (1 to 9 credits)
  • JPN 301 - Advanced Intermediate Japanese (3 credits)
  • any 300-level course in Latin

TRACK B (6-7 credits) - for students who have been awarded the Michigan Seal of Biliteracy in a world language not taught at GVSU

• MLL 200 - Beyond Borders: Language Learning and the Formation of Identity (3 credits) OR MLL 300 - What's Language Got To Do With It? Exploring Identity Through Language, Culture, and Literature (3 credits) This course is taught in English.
• One 100-level course in a world language taught at GVSU (Substitutions for higher-level courses made when appropriate.) (3 to 4 credits)

TRACK C (6 credits) - for students who have not been awarded the Michigan Seal of Biliteracy but have Intermediate high proficiency in a world language other than English

• Documentation of Intermediate high proficiency on an approved, commercially produced comprehensive language exam - The Michigan Department of Education maintains an approved list of these assessments (https://www.michigan.gov/mde/-/media/Project/Websites/mde/Flexible-Learning-Options/Michigan-Seal-of-Biliteracy/MSOB_Assessment_Resources.pdf?rev=7af2ab2c928645e38362a555d2fc37ba&hash=E42A8BC5C3EE7F162EF1A555EBB6B3AD).
• MLL 200 - Beyond Borders: Language Learning and the Formation of Identity (3 credits) OR MLL 300 - What's Language Got To Do With It? Exploring Identity Through Language, Culture, and Literature (3 credits) This course is taught in English.
• A 300-level language/culture/literature course at GVSU in their target language
  • ARA 380 - Special Topics in Arabic (1 to 4 credits)
  • CHI 341 - Introduction to Classical Chinese (3 credits) or CHI 351 - Practical Chinese (3 credits)
  • FRE 315 - French Conversation (3 credits)
  • GER 301 - German Composition (3 credits)
  • ITA 380 - Special Topics in Italian (1 to 9 credits)
  • JPN 301 - Advanced Intermediate Japanese (3 credits)
  • any 300-level course in Latin