Published August 9, 2020 | Version v1
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TEACHING MEDICAL STUDENTS COMMUNICATING SKILLS IN ENGLISH

Creators

  • 1. Bogomolets National Medical University

Description

Interdisciplinary integration of the Foreign Language and Medical Communicational Psychology disciplines is an advantageous choice for the medical students. The discipline Foreign (English) language is best appropriate for teaching medical students communication with the patients. The article contains basic information on introducing the doctor-patient communication skills course in the English lessons, based on the personal experience of the authors. The authors have conducted a study of effectiveness of the communication skills psychological-linguistic course read to the medical students, the results of which have proven high efficiency of such integration.

Purpose. To analyze peculiarities of teaching communication skills at English classes, basing on the personal experience of the authors, to assess changes in the parameter before and after the introduced English communication course.

Methods. Literature review method was used to gather information on how communication skills are taught abroad, the method including analysis and synthesis of information; initial and final testing and questioning the students – to assess the quality of their knowledge before and after the experiment, statistical processing of the data with the Statistica 20.0 software was used. The author tests to assess the English communication skills included multiple questions regarding communication of doctors and patients.

Conclusions. The study showed initially low level of the communication skills characteristics, expressed with negative mindset, negative communicative behaviour, loss of self-monitoring and self-control, which, after a year course of Communication in English, have significantly improved. The authors sate also rather beneficial effect of such integration onto the level of language knowledge of the students, as high motivation provides for increased learning activity and better results. The authors consider effective holding similar studies and courses with the senior medical students and practicing physician, who are more actively engaged in communication with the patients.

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