Communication skills for speakers of other languages
“The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place” Geroge Bernard Shaw
Communication skills are an essential part of the art of medicine. The need to communicate effectively in pressured situations has never been more important.
The GMC's Good Medical Practice states that doctors "must have the necessary knowledge of the English language to provide a good standard of practice and care in the UK"
Do you find that patients sometimes struggle to understand you? Do you worry that you don’t know the polite way to remind your boss for the third time that your competence needs signing off? Do you feel you sometimes miss nuances in communication with your peers?
I am a medical public health doctor with experience in leadership and medical education, keeping up to date clinically through my work as a professional appraiser across all specialties. I am also a qualified teacher of English as a Foreign Language.
Examples of how I have helped people in the past:
A doctor who found colleagues from other teams were reluctant to review or take over the management of patients he tried to refer on night shifts. We discussed some of the recent cases and then worked out how he could convey the key points in 20 words to initiate the discussion.
A doctor who moved to a job where he found his patients difficult to understand: we realised he only spoke English at work and developed an action plan for building more interactions with local people into his life.
A doctor who didn’t understand why people thought she was “aggressive” We explored how body language conveys meaning in different cultures and how she could subtly alter hers when needed; looked at phrases she could use to soften ‘instructions’ in non-emergency situations, such as ‘please can you’ ‘I would really appreciate it if you could….’
A doctor who spoke fluent but heavily accented English so some patients, particularly older people, found her difficult to understand. We developed some exercises for slowing down her speech and picked out some common words that she could practice pronunciation and inflection. I often use whatsapp to record myself speaking particular words and sentences as this is an easy way to build us a resource for my client.
An example of my more generic work is an online course called "Writing Better Emails" available on the "Of Course" Learning website at Business Communication: Writing Better Emails | Of Course
Relevant experience: associate dean and head of school roles in medical education, working as part of professional support teams in 2 deaneries.
Qualifications: certificate in coaching from Henley Business School, level 5 (120h) certificate in teaching English as a Foreign Language 2021; certificate in phonetics and phonology 2011
Most of my experience has been with doctors – I am happy to try to help anyone from any professional background or none. My prices are set to be affordable for individuals who can’t get support from their employer.
Get in touch to see how I can help YOU!
Prices start from £25 for 30 minutes 1:1 on zoom. Flexible timings to fit in with your shifts.