Universidad del Istmo

Specialization in English Language Teaching

Subject:
Diseño curricular de programas de inglés con propósitos específicos

Student’s name:
Juan Alberto Martinez De Gracia

Activity #3:
ESP methodology for medical students in Panama

Due date:
October 27th, 2022
 Index

Introduction............................................................................................................................1
Conclusion...............................................................................................................................5
Bibliography............................................................................................................................6
 Introduction

English for Medical Purposes (EMP) is a branch of English for Specific Purposes
(ESP). ESP has developed into a wide variety of courses for specific learning areas and for
specific professions. As it was recognized that even high levels of proficiency in general
academic English do not prepare workers in specific professions, ESP was born.

This brief paper describes the main characteristics of EMP, details its importance
for medical students and suggests strategies for Medical English teaching in accordance to
the reality of Panamanian higher education.

1
 EMP covers the English language which health care professionals need to carry out
their job safely and confidently. Safe practice is linked to language proficiency in EMP, for
even a minor language misunderstanding can have serious consequences, lives are at
stake in the medical area. Hence the importance for medical students to undertake an
EMP course that provides them the required language skills for their occupation.

Medical English (ME) teaching involves helping students use the right vocabulary
to recognize health problems, make diagnoses, give proper treatments, and avoid errors
while working with English speaking patients.

Medical students have to acquire medical vocabulary which will allow them to
write case histories in a proper way, give instructions to patients and discuss problems
with hospital staff.

Most EMP students are willing to learn how to:

 Ask clear questions
 Elicit information needed from patients
 Report observations and reactions
 Give clear instructions and explanations to patients (and their relatives), as well as to
coworkers

In view if the above, many techniques and strategies are suggested for students to
achieve their language proficiency goals.

To begin with, specialized vocabulary should be presented in context, the best

context seems to be texts related to the subject field (medicine). Words in context give
students the chance to see their environment, such as their associated collocations or
grammatical structures.

2
 Additionally, when introducing the meaning of new words, a variety of teaching
techniques can be used, such as: translation, providing pictures, real things, definitions,
semantic sets (synonyms, antonyms), and others.

Moreover, a quick and easy technique for presenting the meaning of words is
translation into the native language. It is helpful for both the teacher and the students,
but it may impair students’ understanding of the associations between the words.
Therefore, in some cases new vocabulary should not be treated as isolated items, but
should be translated and practiced as lexical phrases (not word-by-word translation).

Undoubtedly, one of the effective techniques of word presentation is using visual

representations such as pictures, drawings and charts. Labelling the pictures with medical
words allow students more active involvement than the verbal presentation performed by
a teacher.

Presenting new words is only the first step in learning them. To consolidate them,
the students should be given multiple opportunities to use new words in a variety of
exercises and activities.

Taking into account that English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is oriented to adult
learners in all its branches, including EMP, teachers’ role is to supervise the students’
performance and provide feedback in the form of explanation or advice.

All learning activities should not be extensive, otherwise students may lose interest
in them. Students benefit most from performing a variety of tasks, that is why they should
be introduced interchangeably. In this way, teachers can avoid monotony and boredom
which might otherwise occur in their lessons.

3
 Furthermore, the greater variety of activities the students perform, the more
confident they will be in the use of specialized terminology in real-life occupational
situations.

4
 Conclusion

Most Panamanian medical students don’t receive Medical English education. They
barely receive general academic English formation, in courses such as General English,
Basic English and Grammar, to name some.

Nevertheless, those students who are committed to their professional formation

and continuous improvement, constantly seek for educational institutions nation-wide or
abroad in which they can acquire and/or enhance their English skills, with specialization in
medical terminology.

5
 Bibliography

Wikipedia contributors. (2022, 20 agosto). Medical education in Panama. Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_education_in_Panama

What does English for Medical Purposes cover? (n.d.). AuthorsDen.com. Retrieved

October 26, 2022, from https://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?id=66339

Boesch, M. (2019, July 25). What is Medical English Teaching and How Do I Start?

Barefoot Consultants Member Area. https://barefootconsultants.com/what-is-

medical-english-teaching-and-how-do-i-start/

Pavel, Ecaterina. (2014). Teaching English for medical purposes. 7. 39-46.