English Language and the Medical Profession: Instructing and Assessing the Communication Skills of International Physicians
is designed for a new context for English language teaching: the emerging, worldwide interest in English for medicine. The book offers a program for an English language curriculum that is specifically designed for the important and growing group of international medical professionals, with a focus on both instruction and assessment. International physicians in the United States now total more than 25 per cent of the physician workforce. Even subsequent to their passage of the clinical skills exam required for licensing and practice as physicians in U.S. hospitals, international physicians face communication challenges as first-year residents and may be referred to specialists for language and cultural issues. Advanced residents may face additional issues when they begin work as independent practitioners. This volume goes beyond existing texts in collecting the expertise of English language teaching and testing experts, medical residency supervisors, medical licensing, and exchange agencies in examining issues related to international physicians' performance as graduate students and doctors in hospitals and other settings. The contributors include specialists at the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates and doctors who supervise international medical residents as well as recognized ESP practitioners.