TY - JOUR T1 - Interpreting Medicine: Lessons From a Spanish-Language Clinic JF - The Annals of Family Medicine JO - Ann Fam Med SP - 473 LP - 474 DO - 10.1370/afm.1661 VL - 12 IS - 5 AU - Benjamin P. Brown Y1 - 2014/09/01 UR - http://www.annfammed.org/content/12/5/473.abstract N2 - Caring for patients is an act of interpretation: we labor to understand the significance of a particular symptom and, when we have reached a diagnosis, we convert our medical jargon into plain language for the benefit of the patient. Caring for patients of limited English proficiency—a population that needs a very literal form of interpretation—underscores this lesson. Working with predominantly Spanish-speaking patients has shown me the importance of bearing witness to patients’ struggles and has brought me to realize that good physicians must work to forge a common language with all their patients, not only with those who do not speak English. ER -