PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Benjamin P. Brown TI - Interpreting Medicine: Lessons From a Spanish-Language Clinic AID - 10.1370/afm.1661 DP - 2014 Sep 01 TA - The Annals of Family Medicine PG - 473--474 VI - 12 IP - 5 4099 - http://www.annfammed.org/content/12/5/473.short 4100 - http://www.annfammed.org/content/12/5/473.full SO - Ann Fam Med2014 Sep 01; 12 AB - 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.