US Medical Term · departments
Specialist
Especialista
What it means
A specialist, in medicine, is a doctor or other health care professional who is trained and licensed in a special area of practice, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) dictionary; its examples of medical specialists include oncologists (cancer specialists) and hematologists (blood specialists). The HealthCare.gov glossary describes two kinds. A physician specialist focuses on a specific area of medicine or a group of patients to diagnose, manage, prevent or treat certain types of symptoms and conditions. A non-physician specialist is a provider who has more training in a specific area of health care. In Spanish the term is especialista, a word the Spanish dictionary applies to a doctor who has specific training in a particular medical or surgical branch.
Specialist in Spanish
- Spanish term
- Especialista
- Gender and article
- masculine or feminine: el especialista / la especialista
- Pronunciation
- es-peh-syah-LEES-tah
| Other Spanish terms | Where it is used | Note |
|---|---|---|
| médico especialista | General | Heading of the entry in the Spanish version of the HealthCare.gov glossary; the Spanish dictionary uses the same pairing in its example for the medical sense. |
| profesional especialista | General | Another name given at the end of the National Cancer Institute's Spanish dictionary entry for especialista. |
Especialista is the headword in the National Cancer Institute's Spanish dictionary, which defines it, in the medical field, as a professional in medicine or another health area who has received training in a specialty and is authorized to practice it, and adds that it is also called profesional especialista. The Spanish version of the HealthCare.gov glossary heads its entry Médico especialista and, for a non-physician specialist, writes un especialista que no es médico.
The examples in the Spanish dictionary show the same form with a masculine and a feminine article. Its medical sense, said of a doctor who has specific training in a particular medical or surgical branch, comes with the examples un médico especialista en aparato digestivo and me atendió una especialista en traumatología. The NCI Spanish dictionary writes las personas especialistas en oncología and says they are called oncólogos; those in hematología are called hematólogos. In all of these examples the field follows the word en.
Phrases for an appointment
What a patient or a clinician might say, in English and Spanish:
| Who | English | Spanish |
|---|---|---|
| Clinician | I would like you to see a specialist about this. | Quisiera que consulte a un especialista por esto. |
| Patient | What kind of specialist do I need to see? | ¿Qué tipo de especialista necesito ver? |
| Clinician | A specialist in hematology, the study of blood. | Un especialista en hematología, el estudio de la sangre. |
| Patient | Do I need a referral from you to see the specialist? | ¿Necesito una derivación suya para ver al especialista? |
| Patient | Is this specialist in my plan's network? | ¿Este especialista está en la red de mi plan? |
| Clinician | The specialist will send me a report after your visit. | El especialista me enviará un informe después de su consulta. |
| Patient | Last month a specialist saw me at the hospital, and she ordered these tests. | El mes pasado me atendió una especialista en el hospital, y ella pidió estas pruebas. |
| Patient | How much is the copay for a visit with a specialist? | ¿Cuánto es el copago por una consulta con un especialista? |
In 9 languages
| Language | Term |
|---|---|
| English | Specialist |
| Spanish (Español) | Especialista |
| Chinese (中文) | 专科医生 |
| Korean (한국어) | 전문의 |
| Vietnamese (Tiếng Việt) | Bác sĩ chuyên khoa |
| Filipino (Tagalog) | Espesyalista |
| Portuguese (Português) | Especialista |
| Thai (ภาษาไทย) | แพทย์เฉพาะทาง |
| Japanese (日本語) | 専門医 |
Where you'll see it
Related terms
Your right to an interpreter in the United States
If English is not your primary language and you have difficulty communicating in English, you may need an interpreter or a translated document when you visit a doctor or dentist, go to the emergency room or pick up a prescription. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights states that two federal laws, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, require programs that receive its funding to provide language access services free of charge.
You can ask when you make the appointment or at the front desk: "I need an interpreter, please." «Necesito un intérprete, por favor.»
More terms: General care: tests, procedures and medicines
All terms in this area: General care: tests, procedures and medicines — Atención general: pruebas, procedimientos y medicamentos
Related guide
→ US Guide: finding a primary care doctorSources
- Specialist - Glossary — HealthCare.gov, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
- Especialista - Glosario — CuidadoDeSalud.gov, Centros de Servicios de Medicare y Medicaid (CMS)
- specialist — NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms — National Cancer Institute (NCI), NIH
- especialista — Diccionario de cáncer del NCI — Instituto Nacional del Cáncer (NCI), NIH
- especialista — Diccionario de la lengua española — Real Academia Española / ASALE
- Limited English Proficiency (LEP): Your Right to Language Assistance Services — U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights
This page is a language reference. It is not medical advice.
Last reviewed: October 8, 2026