Medical Maven
Describe symptoms precisely, follow a diagnosis, and confirm medication instructions — out loud, in Spanish.
Advanced medical Spanish is about structure: give every symptom a what, where, how much, and since when — qué, dónde, cuánto, desde cuándo. Expect the doctor's pain scale, del uno al diez, ¿cuánto le duele?, and the diagnosis framing lo que usted tiene es…. Precision matters: dolor agudo is sharp pain, dolor crónico is chronic, molestia is mere discomfort. Then confirm the treatment by repeating back dosage, timing, and precautions — la dosis, when to take it, what to avoid — before you leave with the receta.
Below: the vocabulary by stage — symptoms, diagnosis, medication, procedures, the healthcare system — how patients actually phrase it country by country, and a way to rehearse the whole consultation out loud, no flashcards involved.
The warm-up pack
The lines a real consultation actually runs on — from the doctor's opener to walking out with your discharge.
01 · The question that opens the visit
¿Qué le anda pasando?
What's going on with you? — the doctor's warm opener across Latin America.
You don't have to lead with technical vocabulary — this is your cue to answer with what, where, how much, since when.
02 · Naming where it hurts
Tengo una punzada.
I've got a sharp, stabbing pain. (Colombia)
Punzada names a specific kind of pain instead of the vague dolor — precision gets you a faster diagnosis.
03 · The scale every doctor uses
Del uno al diez, ¿cuánto le duele?
On a scale of one to ten, how much does it hurt? — the same 1-to-10 scale used in the US.
You already know how to answer this one — it's asked the same way everywhere.
04 · Catching the flu (Mexico)
Me dio gripa.
I caught the flu. (Mexico) — la gripe almost everywhere else.
Gripa is what Mexicans actually say; gripe covers the rest of the Spanish-speaking world. Either gets you understood.
05 · How the diagnosis gets framed
Lo que usted tiene es faringitis.
What you have is pharyngitis. — how a Latin American doctor frames a diagnosis before naming it.
Listen for lo que usted tiene es — it's your cue the diagnosis is coming, so you're never caught off guard by an unfamiliar term.
06 · Asking for the cheaper version
¿Lo tiene genérico?
Do you have the generic?
This one line, asked at any Latin American pharmacy, can cut your bill in half — completely normal to ask.
07 · How your pharmacist actually talks to you
Tómate una pastillita.
Take a little pill. — the warm, diminutive way a Caribbean pharmacist gives instructions.
Pastillita, not pastilla — the diminutive is doctors and pharmacists being warm with you, not talking down to a child.
08 · Bracing for the blood draw
Me van a sacar sangre.
They're going to draw my blood.
Short and direct — you don't need more vocabulary than this to know exactly what's about to happen.
09 · The X-ray, Argentina-style
Me hacen una placa.
They're taking an X-ray. (Argentina) — la radiografía is the textbook word; placa is what patients actually say.
Same procedure everywhere, a completely different everyday word for it in Argentina.
10 · The question everyone asks first
¿Eso duele?
Does that hurt? — what every patient asks before any procedure.
It's the question every patient asks, in every language — asking it in Spanish is exactly what a confident patient sounds like.
11 · Walking out the door
Me dieron de alta.
I was discharged.
Alta médica always shows up with the verb dar — you're 'given' your discharge, you don't just 'leave'.
FLUENT
Finally, someone to talk to in Spanish.
Ten-minute spoken lessons. A teacher who answers back — and gently fixes what you got wrong.
First 10 lessons freeandbefluent.com/spanish/medical-mavenRegional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
| English | Mexico | Argentina |
|---|---|---|
| the flu | la gripa | la gripe |
| an X-ray | la radiografía | una placa |
| medications | las pastillas | los remedios |
| health coverage | el IMSS / el Seguro | la obra social |
Watch out
The part no drill site can do
Olivia
Your vocabulary teacher for this pack
You don't drill this vocabulary — you use it the way a patient has to. In the Medical Maven lessons, Olivia plays the specialist: she opens warmly — ¿qué le anda pasando? — and you describe una punzada with its location, intensity, and how long you've had it. She delivers a diagnosis with lo que usted tiene es… and you ask her to put it in plain Spanish. Then the part people get wrong in real clinics: she gives you la dosis and the follow-up plan, and you repeat it all back — timing, precautions, consulta de seguimiento — out loud, until confirming instructions in Spanish feels routine.
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 6 lessons and Medical Maven is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
The standard question is del uno al diez, ¿cuánto le duele? — the same 1-to-10 scale used in the US. Answer with the right word for the kind of pain: dolor agudo (sharp), dolor crónico (chronic), or just molestia (discomfort).
Same illness, different region: la gripa in Mexico — me dio gripa — and la gripe almost everywhere else. Colombians also reach for the catch-all me dio una virosis for any viral bug.
¿Lo tiene genérico? — understood at pharmacies across Latin America. Note the register split for the medicine itself: medicamento is formal, pastillas is everyday Mexican, and Argentines say remedios.
El análisis de sangre — patients say me van a sacar sangre — and la radiografía, which in Argentina becomes me hacen una placa. For a lab order in general, Colombians say me mandaron exámenes.
"I was discharged" — alta médica always travels with the verb dar. Its counterpart is el ingreso hospitalario (admission), and the visit after discharge is la consulta de seguimiento or, in Mexico, volver a revisión.
