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net

How to Teach
Clinical
Communications
Skills
(2023-2024)
Demand has never been greater for to practice are granted, so ensuring safe
teachers of English for the healthcare practice as per Codes of Practice and
sector. Indeed, most university faculties Codes of Ethics. The rise in medical
require their healthcare students to study tourism further extends the need for
English as part of their degree and some English as a means for communication.
now teach degrees in the field through
the medium of English. There is also an increasing number of
courses offered in preparation for OET by
Many healthcare professionals work private language schools, individual
overseas to extend their practice and trainers and institutions of higher and
need English to communicate either with further education, where a grasp of
native speakers or as a lingua franca with clinical communications skills and the
non-native speaker patients and impact for an effective patient encounter
colleagues. English language competence is key.
(IELTS 7.5 or OET Grade B) is required by
many registration boards before licenses

Course objectives
During the course, you will (learn how to):
• build confidence, knowledge and understanding of clinical communications skills,
• understand and address the communication needs of learners in the healthcare context,
• gain familiarity with the concepts, skills, lexis & discourse of clinical communications,
• grasp the fundamental elements of the Occupational English Test (OET),
• develop and deliver your programmes with effective and measurable outcomes.

NB: The course does not assume a knowledge of medicine or healthcare

procedures, but experience of teaching English is supposed.

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Trainer: Ros Wright
Ros (MA Applied Linguistics and Materials Development) has worked
with healthcare professionals since 1998 and has run courses for
organisations such as the Nottingham NHS Trust (UK), the Paris
healthcare authority, APHP, as well as Kaplan Paris, where she
helped prepare overseas clinicians for the USMLE. Ros has been
running NHS Induction courses for one of the UK’s largest medical
recruitment agencies since 2015 and is also an OET consultant.

Ros is the (co-)author of several titles in the field of clinical

communications, including the award-winning Good Practice:
Communication Skills in English for the Medical Practitioner
(Cambridge University Press, 2008) and OET Speaking & Writing Skills
Builder (Express Publishing, 2020). She has also written articles for
various publications on the subject, including for The Guardian.

A former General Secretary of the Association for Language Teachers

of Healthcare (EALTHY) and President of TESOL France, Ros served as
a Trustee of IATEFL, the International Association of Teachers of
English as a Foreign Language, between 2017 and 2023.

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Weeks 1 & 2: Introduction to clinical
communication skills
Welcome & Pre-course task Session 4: Taking a social history

Session 1: Moving from general to Session 5: Performing a physical

medical English examination
Session 2: Understanding the patient- Session 6: Delivering bad news
centred approach
Session 7: Discussing results &
Session 3: Gathering information negotiating treatment

Week 3: Introduction to OET

Session 1: Overview Session 4: OET Speaking

Session 2: OET Listening Session 5: OET Writing

Session 3: OET Reading

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Weeks 4 & 5: Developing materials to teach
clinical communications skills
Session 1: Needs analysis Session 6: Assessment tools

Session 2: Methodology Session 7: A framework for materials

development
Session 3: Materials for accuracy
Session 8: Tips for materials writers
Session 4: Materials for fluency

Session 5: Clinical communications

models

Week 6: Assessment & CPD

Also
BONUS materials: Key concepts

The Clinical Communications Starter Kit

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Client list
Ros has (co-)delivered specialized teacher training courses in clinical communications
to the following clients:

Delivery
How to Teach Clinical Communications Skills will be delivered in a flexible hybrid mode
over a 6-week period.
It will begin with an introductory session and a chance to meet your fellow trainees. A
series of 20-30 minute video tutorials will then provide the course content, together
with reflection tasks.
Two more small-group sessions will provide opportunities to discuss any issues and/or
questions related to the course content.
Individual feedback will be provided for the assessment task at the end of the course.

Pricing
How to Teach Clinical Communications Skills is currently being offered at a special
introductory price of £497.
Payment in two installments is possible at no additional cost.

Interested?
Places for How to Teach Clinical Communications Skills are limited, so please email
me to be sure of a place on the course.

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