As doctors' time becomes more limited, communication with patients becomes more important and the need for doctor-patient understanding becomes critical. Here is a book that helps bridge the gap between the professional language of health care providers and that of people whose first language is Spanish.

A staple of southwestern health care for more than twenty years, this dictionary can make a difference in patient care. Now available in a revised edition, it focuses on vocabulary used in health contexts by Spanish-speaking people in order to help patients tell their stories and medical practitioners to understand them. Unlike other bilingual dictionaries that emphasize scientific terms, this one focuses on standard Spanish terms as well as regional expressions peculiar to Mexican Spanish—language encountered in Chicago as easily as in Phoenix.

In the Spanish-to-English section, Spanish terms are followed by English translations and sample sentences to help health care practitioners understand how a patient might use them:

acedías, heartburn, pain in lower esophagus perceived as in the heart. Uno tiene la tendencia a sufrir de acedías después de comer chile. One has a tendency to suffer heartburn after eating chile. (syn: acidez, agruras del estómago)

In the English-to-Spanish section, English words are translated into simple Spanish terms along with English synonyms.

Now available in a revised edition, this handy reference features:

• more than 3,000 entries
• new entries that reflect current health problems and treatments
• inclusion of cognates
• Spanish definitions of English words
• anatomical drawings with bilingual labels
• more material on medicinal plants, including an appendix of poisonous and non-poisonous plants
• lists of food items and kinship terms

This book is an indispensable reference for all health care professionals who see patients of Mexican origin. Combining idiomatic precision with technical accuracy, it can help break down language barriers on either side of the border.