Information for health care professionals in private practice
Hospitals and facilities run by Nova Scotia Health and the IWK offer services in French to the Acadian and francophone community in accordance with the French-language Services Act. Health care professionals and employees at these establishments can benefit from the many resources developed by Réseau Santé and its partners that can be found below to help them better serve their patients in French.
Health care professionals in private practice can refer to this page for information that is more tailored to their needs.
English-French Phrase Book for Health Professionals
This phrase book was developed to help health care professionals in Nova Scotia provide their services in French. It features useful phrases and terms for health care settings in English, French and Acadian French and covers various functions and areas of health care, including assessments, tests and procedures, medications, paramedic care, providing care to children, mental health, social services, etc. The phrase book can be ordered free of charge by health care professionals in Nova Scotia.
The Bonjour! Program
The Bonjour! program is open to employees, doctors, students and volunteers at hospitals and facilities run by Nova Scotia Health and the IWK Health Centre who are able to provide at least some level of service in French. The Bonjour! program materials include desktop signs, posters and pins.
Patient Safety, Language and Active Offer Training
This workshop offered by Réseau Santé helps health care professionals understand the importance of providing health in the patient’s language, implications for patient safety and how to proactively offer services in French. The workshop is offered as self-directed online training and in person or by videoconference by trainers.
Nova Scotia Directory of French-speaking Health Professionals
This provincial directory boasts more than 350 health care professionals in private practice that can provide services in French practising in more than 35 fields, including physiotherapists, nutritionists, psychologists, occupational therapists, social workers, pharmacists and massage therapists, among others.
You can use it to find health care professionals to whom you can refer your Acadian and francophone patients (or for yourself!).
Anki Medical Terminology Flashcards
Download the Anki flashcard deck to learn hundreds of medical terms and phrases in French quickly and easily with the Anki app on your smartphone, tablet or computer.
Refer to the Anki user manual or watch this video for more information on how to install and use Anki on your computer or mobile device. The flashcard deck is available in two versions: English-to-French and French-to-English.
Websites and apps for learning French online
These websites and mobile apps will allow you to learn useful phrases and vocabulary to provide health care services in French:
• French as a Second Language for Health Care Sector Staff (Université Sainte-Anne)
• The Medi-Lexico apps are a series of five mobile apps, available for Android and iOS devices, which provide medical terminology in French and in English in five health care fields (nursing, occupational therapy and physiotherapy, dental care, radiology and respiratory therapy).
• The Med Interpret app is a quick and simple tool for finding French equivalents of medical terms and phrases commonly used in a medical context on your smartphone. The app assists physicians, nurses, technicians, physiotherapists and other health care professionals in communicating with their French-speaking patients.
• The LexiGo app provides quick access to useful health care terms in French and English, which can be accessed without an internet connection on a smartphone or tablet (it is available for iPhone/iPad on the Apple App Store and on the Google Play Store for Android devices).
Publications for improving French-language services
Institutions and health care facilities can refer to the following publications that touch on various aspects of health care services in French to inform their planning processes:
• Improving Access to Health Services in French for Manitoba and Prince Edward Island Seniors
• Impact of language barriers on access to healthcare for official language minority Francophones in Canada
• Framework for Recruitment & Retention of Bilingual Human Resources in the Health Sector
• A Guide for Planning and Providing Francophone Long-term Care Services
• Access to health and interpreter-companion services: The experience of sparsely populated Francophone minority communities in Canada
• The Impact of Language Barriers on Patient Safety and Quality of Care
Training and events
Health care professionals can take part in networking events hosted by Réseau Santé as well as professional development training and talks put on by our partners. Check our events page, sign up for our newsletter or contact us to learn more.