Developing In-Service English Programs for Japanese Medical Staff

Abstract

In Japan, as in much of the world, medical doctors (MDs) require English skills in order to participate in international conferences and publish their findings in academic journals. Japanese MDs are particularly troubled by the former need, as English education in Japan tends to overlook English communicative skills in favor of traditional grammar-based instruction. Our previous needs analysis found that Japanese MDs regard English-speaking ability as their weakest skill, and many would be interested in in-service English programs designed to boost their communicative skills (Willey, I., Tanimoto, K., McCrohan, G., & Nishiya, K. (2020). An English needs analysis of medical doctors in western Japan. JALT Journal, 42(2), 143–169.). Based on these findings, we launched a three-year project to develop in-service English courses for medical and paramedical staff at a university hospital in western Japan; this chapter describes the first two years of this project. Over the two-year period our English courses shifted in focus from general English communicative skill development to oral and poster presentation skills for academic conferences. Feedback on courses was obtained from participants through post-course questionnaires and focus-group interviews. Participants generally approved of the course design and content, though absenteeism and dropout made it difficult to assess the efficacy of the courses. To make in-service English courses for busy medical professionals successful, the involvement of senior medical faculty, as well as creative approaches to providing incentives to participants, is essential.