Course: English for Health Workers 10: English for Doctors and Clinicians. Folder: Start Here.
About 8 minutes.
Welcome
Welcome to English for Health Workers 10: English for Doctors and Clinicians! You know medicine. This course helps you use clear, kind and professional English with patients and colleagues. You practise taking a history, explaining a diagnosis in plain words, explaining tests and treatment and asking for consent, breaking bad news with care, presenting patients and making referrals, and working with international colleagues and interpreters.
Note: This course is a learning resource from Digital Start Rwanda. It is not an official document. For health rules and procedures, follow your facility and official sources. This is a language course, not clinical training. It does not give clinical guidelines or medicine doses. Always follow your facility’s protocols, Rwanda Ministry of Health guidance and your senior colleagues. Communication methods such as teach-back, SPIKES and SBAR are general tools; your local protocols decide how you use them.
Who this course is for
- Everyone who works in a health facility: cleaners, porters, security guards, drivers, kitchen staff, receptionists, cashiers, community health workers, nurses, midwives, lab and pharmacy staff, and doctors.
- You are new to English, or you want to feel more confident using it at work.
- Take after: the four foundation courses (Courses 1 to 4).
What you will learn
Part 1: Talking with Patients
- Lesson 1: Taking a History
- Lesson 2: Explaining a Diagnosis in Plain Words
Part 2: Plans, Consent and Bad News
- Lesson 3: Tests, Treatment Plans and Consent
- Lesson 4: Breaking Bad News with Care
Part 3: Working with the Team
- Lesson 5: Ward Rounds, Case Presentations and Referrals
- Lesson 6: Working with International Colleagues and Interpreters
How each lesson works
Every lesson has the same steps. Do them in order. One lesson takes about 25 to 35 minutes. You can stop and come back.
- Goal: what you can do at the end.
- Key words: listen, then say each word. Read the example sentence.
- Useful phrases: listen and repeat each phrase three times.
- Dialogues: listen to real talk in a Rwandan health facility. Then read it aloud with a friend.
- Pronunciation: short drills for sounds that are hard for many Kinyarwanda speakers.
- Say it at work: one small task to do in your real job.
- Listening practice: listen first, then answer. Do not read the script first.
- Speaking role-play: practise with a partner.
- Quick check and common mistakes.
How to use the audio
- Look for the audio boxes. Press play, listen, then say it yourself.
- Listen two or three times. It is normal not to understand everything the first time.
- Copy the voice: the speed, the strong parts and the tune.
- Use earphones if it is noisy. You can listen on the bus or at home.
- Record yourself on your phone and compare.
Tips for learning on your phone
- Do a little every day: 15 minutes is better than 2 hours once a week.
- Write new words in a notebook with the meaning in your own language.
- Practise with a colleague. Take turns.
- Use one new phrase at work every day.
The English for Health Workers series
| No. | Course | Take after |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | English for Health Workers 1: Survival English for Health Facilities | Start here |
| 2 | English for Health Workers 2: Safety and Emergency English | Course 1 |
| 3 | English for Health Workers 3: Hygiene and Infection Prevention | Course 1 |
| 4 | English for Health Workers 4: Professional Communication and Respect | Course 1 |
| 5 | English for Health Workers 5: English for Support Staff | Courses 1 to 4 |
| 6 | English for Health Workers 6: English for the Front Desk | Courses 1 to 4 |
| 7 | English for Health Workers 7: English for Community Health Workers | Courses 1 to 4 |
| 8 | English for Health Workers 8: English for Nurses and Midwives | Courses 1 to 4 |
| 9 | English for Health Workers 9: English for Allied Health Staff | Courses 1 to 4 |
| 10 | English for Health Workers 10: English for Doctors and Clinicians | Courses 1 to 4 |
Course 10 in the English for Health Workers series. Take after: the four foundation courses (Courses 1 to 4).
Sources
Facts in this course were checked against these sources. They can change, so always check official sources.
- AHRQ TeamSTEPPS: Tool: Teach-Back (ask the patient to explain the information in their own words)
- Baile WF, Buckman R, et al. SPIKES: A Six-Step Protocol for Delivering Bad News. The Oncologist, 2000; 5: 302-311 (record)
- SPIKES article text (Setting, Perception, Invitation, Knowledge, Emotions, Strategy and Summary; warning that bad news is coming)
- Institute for Healthcare Improvement: SBAR Tool: Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation
You are ready when…
- ☐ I know how each lesson works.
- ☐ I know how to use the audio.
- ☐ I have a notebook for new words.