Exploring the current English language needs of medical students in the School of Medicine at Hage Geingob UNAM campus

Abstract

The goal of this study was to examine the English language needs of medical students at the Hage Geingob UNAM campus. The English language is crucial in the medical field because it helps doctors be able to interact with patients and colleagues whose first language is not English. In many situations, medical professionals in Namibia communicate with their patients in English. They also frequently deal with papers that are written in English. The English spoken in the workplace and the English spoken by university students are mismatched. The medical students' linguistic needs are not met by the English for Academic Purpose module that is currently available, and even the School of Medicine is now revising its undergraduate curriculum in order to include a medical language module. As a result, the results of this study will assist the School of Medicine in developing a medical language course, ideally in English for Medical Purpose, that especially addresses the linguistic needs of medical students. The objectives of the study were to explore the communication challenges encountered by medical students; analyse the English language needs of medical students during the period of their studies (onset situation) and investigate the English language needs of medical doctors in their professional careers (target situation). The study notes that medical students experience communication challenges in their studies and also during practicals at the hospital. Additionally, the study observes that medical students need language skills with an emphasis on medical linguistics. The study also submits that medical doctors are faced with communication challenges and limited medical vocabulary. The study recommends that an English for Medical Purposes course should be offered to medical students and that it should focus on language skills with the incorporation of medical terminologies and medical scenarios to help the students excel in the medical industry.