A COMPETENCY-BASED FRAMEWORK FOR PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL COMMUNICATION IN ENGLISH FOR MEDICAL PURPOSES (EMP)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21009/ishel.v2i1.70081Keywords:
English for Medical Purposes, Competency-Based Education, Medical Communication, Mixed Methods, Needs AnalysisAbstract
This study proposes a competency-based framework for professional medical communication in English for Medical Purposes (EMP) from a needs-analysis perspective. The study employed a mixed-methods approach with an exploratory sequential design that integrated qualitative thematic analysis and quantitative frequency-based structuring. Qualitative data were derived from semi-structured interviews with healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, and administrative staff. Relevant literature on EMP, competency-based education, and medical communication provided theoretical support. The findings identified three principal communication needs: patient interaction, medical information delivery, and interprofessional communication. The study also identified four core competency domains: linguistic competence, clinical communication skills, interpersonal competence, and professional competence. Quantitative analysis showed that patient interaction was the most dominant communication need and that clinical communication skills represented the most critical competency domain. Based on these findings, the authors developed a competency-based framework to guide curriculum design, instructional materials, teaching strategies, and performance-based assessment aligned with authentic clinical communication tasks. The framework contributes to ESP by integrating language learning with real-world healthcare communication demands and improving the relevance and effectiveness of EMP instruction in hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare settings across diverse multilingual professional contexts worldwide today. The framework also offers a foundation for future empirical validation studies.
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