Language research to assist overseas-trained doctors

A joint research collaboration between USQ and the Toowoomba Base hospital is set to improve communication between overseas-trained doctors and their patients.

As part of the research, which is funded by the Toowoomba Hospital Foundation and the Pureland Learning Institute, eight International Medical Graduates (IMGs) working at the Base hospital will be take part in a twelve-week speech intervention program.

'The project is looking at assisting overseas-trained doctors, who would have received training in another language,' USQ Faculty of Education Chief Investigator and Senior Lecturer Dr Aniko Hatoss said.

'The project will explore what communication issues and difficulties they have in a new language environment.

'We want to improve their spoken language production and particularly pronunciation.'

Considering the increasing number of overseas-trained health professionals in Australian hospitals, the project has the potential to contribute to improved healthcare services on a national level.

While the initiative will use speech pathologists to conduct the intervention program, Dr Hatoss said she will be investigating the sociolinguistic aspect of the IMGs' speech, such as awareness of and adjustment to the Australian way of speaking.

'Sociolinguistics looks at language in society and how it is used in communication, and this project is unique because it combines speech pathology with a language awareness study,' she said.

'The project will explore language attitudes and language issues that these doctors have.

'For example, it will be interesting to see what attitudes they have towards using Australian English and what strategies they use in communicating with colleagues and patients who use Australian slang expressions.'

The doctors will have face-to-face meetings with Dr Hatoss and face-to-face speech diagnosis and training sessions with the speech pathologists once a week.

To date, the eight doctors have responded well to the training.

'They are all volunteer participants from all around the globe including the Middle East, South America, India and Africa,' Dr Hatoss said.

'All the feedback has been positive about the project and the doctors seem to be strongly motivated to adjust their English to suit the Australian professional environment.'

The speech pathology course will conclude in June, with the research set to continue until the end of the year. From there the researchers will develop a model of language intervention, which will be available for healthcare professionals who need to improve their spoken English.

Media Contact: Josh Ada, USQ Media, +61 7 4631 1628