Medical Spanish for Nurses

Soledad Traverso, PhD, is a Professor of Spanish, at Penn State Behrend located in Erie, PA, where she has taught since 1996. She is also the Program Chair for foreign languages. Dr. Traverso instructs students at all levels, from introductory to advanced courses. A native of Chile, she also has written extensively about South American literature. She has published books and articles about authors from her home country. In 2013, Dr. Traverso and Laurie Urraro co-taught a medical Spanish continuing education course for health care providers at St. Vincent Hospital in Erie, Pa, which became the foundation for this work. Due to her commitment to provide health care professionals in the Erie community with the ability to speak medical Spanish and the tremendous success of this course, Dr. Traverso received the Distinguished Award for Excellence in Outreach by the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, at Penn State Behrend. Dr. Soledad Traverso and Dr. Patty Pasky McMahon teach Conversational Spanish for Future Health Care Providers at Penn State Behrend’s Nursing program which has become a highly sought after course among the students. | Laurie Urraro, PhD is a full-time lecturer of Spanish at Penn State Behrend, Erie, PA. Her areas of study include contemporary female-authored Spanish drama, specifically through the lens of sex and sexuality, as well as feminist and LGBTQ issues in contemporary Spanish drama. Current projects include a co-authored bilingual children's book about a trans individual, and a bilingual collection and analysis of contemporary female-authored Spanish plays. | Patty Pasky McMahon, PhD, CRNP, has been in active practice as a family nurse practitioner for over 30 years and has experience in rural health, occupational medicine, women’s health, primary care, and college health. She is the Director of the Health and Wellness Center at Penn State Behrend as well as a Professor at Gannon University. Dr. McMahon wrote the curriculum for the family nurse practitioner program at Gannon and teaches in this program as well as the Doctor of Nursing Practice program. She teaches Conversational Spanish for Future Health Care Providers at Penn State Behrend College’s Nursing program with Soledad Traverso, PhD. She holds multiple professional licenses and certifications. Dr. McMahon has been awarded several government grants and received multiple honors and awards. She has been a primary reviewer of a forensic textbook and has authored several articles. Dr. McMahon has been an invited presenter at many national and regional professional conferences.