11. Medical education 1 PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH IN USE FOR MEDICINE

PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH IN USE FOR MEDICINE

11. Medical education 1

A	Medical education in the UK Medical education in the UK covers: A.       Undergraduate education – four or five years at medical school, the section of a university responsible for medical education. B.       A two-year Foundation Programme which provides training for new doctors after graduation through a series of placements in different specialties. C.      Postgraduates training which doctors take to become GPs or consultants – senior specialists- often delivered through colleges for different specialties, for example the Royal College of Physicians. D.      Continuing professional development in the form of courses and seminars, which doctors undertake throughout their working lives to keep up to date.
B	Extract from an undergraduate prospectus The MBChB (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) is a five-year undergraduate medical degree course. Most of your learning takes place in small groups. The main components are: Core (Years 1-3) An integrated programme of clinical and scientific topics mainly presented through problem-based learning (PBL), where you work with others on a series of case problems. Vocational Studies and Clinical Skills This component prepares you for the clinical skills required for contact with patients from Year 1 of your course, through periods of practical training where you are attached to a hospital department or general practice. Student Selected Modules Student selected modules (SSMs) allow you to choose from a menu of subjects such as Sports Medicine or even study a language as preparation for an overseas elective, a hospital attachment of your own choice, between Years 4 and 5. Clinical Attachments (Years 4 and 5) A series of four-week clinical attachments in Medicine, Surgery, Psychological Medicine, Child Health, Obsstetrics & Gynaecology and General Practice.
C	A student’s view Ellen, a medical student, describes her course.

11.1	Match these activities to the stages of medical education in the UK given in A above. 1 dissecting cadavers 2 keeping a log of surgical procedures observed and performed 3 working for four months in accident and emergency to experience this specialty 4 taking a four-week attachment in Obstetrics and Gynaecology 5 taking an online course on recent developments in cardiovascular disease
11.2	Complete the sentences. Look at B and C above to help you. 1 Just before their final year, students have the chance to take an __________ in a hospital of their choice anywhere in the world. 2 __________-__________ __________ contrasts with an approach where each subjects is taught completely.
11.3	Match each of these activities to one of the components of the undergraduate course described in B and C above. 1 Julie spends six weeks working in a small hospital in the Himalayas. 2 A group of students discuss together the possible reasons for abdominal pain after meals in an obese 44-year-old male. 3 A small group of students trace the pulmonary artery in a cadaver. 4 Otto spends a month working in the paediatric ward of the local hospital. 5 Anne learns how to take blood from an elderly patient. 6 Juma chooses to study Travel Medicine in his fourth year.

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