Going to the Doctor in Spain: What to Say and What They’ll Say Back

Every phrasebook has a page on going to the doctor, and every one of them teaches the same half of the conversation: me duele la cabeza, tengo fiebre, necesito un médico. That half is fine. You will get it out.

The problem is what comes back. The doctor asks a question, gives an instruction, explains a prescription — quickly, in the formal usted form you have used perhaps a dozen times, with vocabulary your course never covered. The moment when you most need to understand Spanish is exactly the moment your preparation stops.

So this guide covers both halves: what to say, and what they will say back.

How the system works

Your first port of call in Spain’s public health system is the centro de salud, the local health centre, where you are assigned a médico de familia or médico de cabecera — the equivalent of a GP. To register you normally need your tarjeta sanitaria, the health card issued by your region. It goes by different names in different places — in the Valencian Community, for example, everyone calls it the SIP. Registering usually means showing your empadronamiento and identity documents, which is why this post sits alongside our guides to empadronamiento and NIE, TIE and the cita previa.

Appointments are made by cita previa — online, through an app, or by phone. For anything urgent there is urgencias, the emergency department; for a genuine emergency, the number is 112.

Your half: saying what is wrong

Three structures cover most of what you need.

• Me duele… — …hurts. Me duele la garganta, my throat hurts. For plural parts, me duelen los oídos.
• Tengo… — I have… Tengo fiebre (a temperature), tengo tos (a cough), tengo náuseas.
• Estoy… — I am… (a state). Estoy mareado/mareada, I feel dizzy; estoy resfriado/resfriada, I have a cold.

Then say how long: desde hace tres días, for three days, or desde el lunes, since Monday. Say whether it is getting worse: va a peor. And say the thing the doctor most needs to know: soy alérgico/alérgica a… and estoy tomando…, I’m taking… Write these two down in advance if you need to.

Their half: the questions

Doctors will almost always address you as usted, so the verbs end in -a or -e where you might expect -as or -es. Listen for these:

• ¿Qué le pasa? / ¿Qué le trae por aquí? — What’s the matter? What brings you here?
• ¿Desde cuándo? — Since when?
• ¿Le duele aquí? — Does it hurt here?
• ¿Ha tenido fiebre? — Have you had a temperature?
• ¿Toma alguna medicación? — Are you taking any medication?
• ¿Es alérgico a algo? — Are you allergic to anything?
• Del uno al diez, ¿cuánto le duele? — From one to ten, how much does it hurt?

Their half: the instructions

During an examination the questions become commands, all in the usted imperative. This is the part learners find hardest, because the forms are unfamiliar and there is no time to think.

• Siéntese / Túmbese aquí — Sit down / Lie down here
• Respire hondo — Breathe deeply
• Aguante la respiración — Hold your breath
• Abra la boca / Saque la lengua — Open your mouth / Stick out your tongue
• Súbase la manga — Roll up your sleeve
• Quítese la camiseta — Take off your T-shirt

Their half: the verdict

• Le voy a pedir unos análisis — I’m going to order some blood tests
• Le voy a derivar al especialista — I’m going to refer you to a specialist
• Le receto… — I’m prescribing you…
• Tómese una cada ocho horas — Take one every eight hours
• En ayunas — On an empty stomach
• Si no mejora, vuelva — If it doesn’t improve, come back
• Le doy la baja — I’m signing you off work

Prescriptions in the public system are usually electronic — the receta electrónica is linked to your health card, and the pharmacist reads it from there. If you have not understood the dosage, ask: ¿me lo puede repetir, por favor? or ¿me lo puede escribir? Nobody will mind, and it is far better than guessing.

The pharmacy

Spanish pharmacists are highly trained and often the first stop for minor problems. Look for the green cross. Outside normal hours, the farmacia de guardia — the duty pharmacy — is listed on the door of every pharmacy in the area. The key phrases are ¿tiene algo para…? (do you have something for…?) and ¿necesita receta? (does it need a prescription?).

Vocabulary

• el centro de salud — health centre
• el médico de familia / de cabecera — GP
• la tarjeta sanitaria — health card
• la cita previa — appointment
• urgencias — emergency department
• la receta — prescription
• los análisis — (blood) tests
• derivar — to refer
• la baja — sick leave
• mareado/a — dizzy
• en ayunas — on an empty stomach
• la farmacia de guardia — duty pharmacy

Where to go next

The best time to practise this conversation is when you are well. Run through it once or twice — both sides, question and answer — so that when you are actually sitting in the consulting room, the doctor’s half arrives as something you have heard before.

A tutor can play the doctor, speed up, and throw in the instructions you are not expecting. You can book a single Spanish lesson on Parlazo and pay for just that lesson, no subscription.