(Again)Teaching English for medical people

Hello semuanya. I am Ruth from Indonesia. I am an Indonesian who teaches English. I have to teach English for medical people who are equipped with some English already next week. I have no background of medical knowledge at all. I have checked some recommended sites for teaching medical people. My questions are: do medical students usually expect the English teachers to know about their field? Also, when students already know grammar how could someone who has no knowledge of medical field survive to teach them English? Pls help me. Would appreciate any ideas! Ruth

Hi there,

Yes I agree with you that it is not absolutely necessary for a language teacher to know all subjects to be able to teach their ESP courses (quoting from your letter). However, I still think it will be good credits for the teacher if she/he can prepare themselves with sufficient knowledge of their courses. The students will feel more apreciated by then. With my EMP course, as we are focusing on the academic discussions and  presentations, to me then the most difficult part is to choose suitable topics from them. I do sometimes ask them to choose their own topics from their lessons at the university (my students are doctors who are taking their specialists). My tricks are subscribing to reputable English sites like englishforums and medical forums (where I can get ideas for topics). There are two books which are very useful and very inspiring that I would recommend for similar course .i.e. English for Medical Professions (Lorraine Beitler and Barbara McDonald) -- good for reading skills and Professional Interactions (Candace Matthews and Joanne Marino) -- good for discussion and presentation skills.

Unfortunately, I dont know about the PHd for ESP