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Effectiveness of a Medical English Course on Communication Abilities of Graduate Medical Students

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Abstract

Background

Communication proficiency is essential in medicine, and English is an important communication tool. Teaching, learning, and developing communicative competence in English are becoming a prominent part of educational programs at medical schools all across Japan.

Aim

This study aimed to assess the effects of a medical English course (MEC) on communicative competence in young doctors.

Methods

Japanese graduate students in the doctoral program at the Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine attended a compulsory MEC for at least 1 year. Students’ self-confidence scores in performing various communicative tasks, either in English or Japanese, were rated using visual analogue scales (VAS) at the beginning and end of the MEC. Other graduate medical students enrolled in the same doctoral program, but who did not attend the MEC, participated as the control group.

Results

Thirty-one students joined the MEC. Statistically significant improvements were observed in the students’ self-confidence in performing the evaluated communicative tasks following participation in the MEC. No improvements were observed in the control group.

Conclusion

The results from this study suggest that the inclusion of this MEC in graduate medical education helped the students to communicate more effectively and may contribute to the enhancement of young doctors’ self-confidence levels for communicative competence.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge all the participants in this study for dedicating their time to complete the questionnaires. This study was funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Grant-in-Aid for scientific research (KAKENHI-C, project number 25350221, principal investigator number 10636939).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Rheumatology, Endocrinology and Nephrology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, N15 W7, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-8638, Japan

    Olga Amengual, Kenji Oku, Delnur Anwar, Toshiyuki Bohgaki, Tetsuya Horita & Tatsuya Atsumi

  2. International Relations Office, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan

    Manabu Murakami

  3. Division of Medical Education Planning and Development, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

    Eric Hajime Jego

Authors
  1. Olga Amengual
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  2. Kenji Oku
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  3. Manabu Murakami
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  4. Delnur Anwar
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  5. Eric Hajime Jego
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  6. Toshiyuki Bohgaki
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  7. Tetsuya Horita
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  8. Tatsuya Atsumi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Olga Amengual.

Ethics declarations

The study was approved by the Hokkaido University Ethics Committee.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Amengual, O., Oku, K., Murakami, M. et al. Effectiveness of a Medical English Course on Communication Abilities of Graduate Medical Students. Med.Sci.Educ. 27, 209–216 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-017-0372-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-017-0372-x

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