Methods of assessing medical terminology
The medical staff can be assessed using the Occupational English Test. In this case, the likely performance of the medical professionals can be determined (McNamara 21). In addition, there is the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test, which can be used in the assessment of the medical terminologies. This test is known to examine the use of medical English (O’Neill, Buckendahl, Plake and Taylor, 297).
It can be observed that most of the tests developed to assess proficiency in medical language focus on the use of the English language. Thus, it should be noted that, the tests suggested are not sufficient. In this case, development of specific tests that can be used for the sole purpose of determining medical language proficiency is needed (Fulcher and Davidson, 125).
Exam Report transcription
Jane D was admitted for pain in her right arm. She had been involved in a motorcycle accident. She had problems moving her right arm. The arm had sustained some injuries during the accident. To determine the extent of her condition, it was necessary to take her to the X-ray. The X-ray indicated that there was a blood clot in her acromioclavicular joint. This indicated that she might have suffered from a shoulder sprain during the accident.
She was lucky that she did not suffer a shoulder fracture or a dislocation. Apart from the shoulder injury, Jane had suffered a deep cut on her left part of the mandible. She was bleeding profusely from the injury. During the accident, Jane had also suffered a nasal fracture. In addition, she had suffered fractures on her coccyx. Apart from the fractures and cuts, Jane had soft tissue injuries that caused her excruciating pain. She was given morphine that had been prescribed to ease her pain.
Upon further examination, it was revealed that Jane had suffered a knee injury. In this case, she had suffered a patella fracture and dislocation. An examination on her blood count indicated a deficiency in the erythrocytes. She was injected with an intravenous of lactated ringers to assist her regarding insufficient blood. This also was to prepare her for the surgery in the operating room.
Determining whether one has learned the language of medicine
The medical profession uses a unique language, which can only make sense to those in this profession. In this case, the various medical professionals have to be efficient in using this language in order to carry out their duties in an effective manner. Therefore, all individuals in the medical profession have to be tested for their comprehension of the medical language.
Lack of proficiency in the medical language can lead to various errors by the medical professional. In this case, such errors include mis-diagnosis and mistreatment. In the extreme case, fatalities may occur due to lack of proficiency in the medical language. Therefore, a medical professional can be assessed through the various tests to determine his or her proficiency.
Those who score highly will be deemed to be proficient in the language of medicine. In addition, it is easy to tell of one’s proficiency in medical language by observing the amount of errors related to the language of medicine. In this case, few or lack of errors emanating from the language of medicine can indicate that one has learned the language of medicine. On the contrary, numerous errors related to the medical language will indicate that one has not grasped the language effectively.
Works Cited
Fulcher, Glenn and Fred Davidson. “Test Architecture, Test Retrofit.” Language Testing 26. 1 (2009): 123 – 144. Print.
McNamara, Tim. “Problematising content validity: the Occupational English Test (OET) as a measure of medical communication.” Melbourne Papers in Language Testing 6. 1 (1997): 19 – 43. Print.
O’Neill, Thomas, R., Chad W. Buckendahl, Barbara S. Plake and Lynda Taylor. “Recommending a Nursing-Specific Passing Standard for the IELTS Examination.” Language Assessment Quarterly 4. 4 (2007): 295 – 317. Print.