Job Discussion Forums

[amity]

Hi, everyone, newbie here.

I am interesting in teaching medical ESL abroad. I have 8 years of experience as a paramedic, and 4+ years as a medical transcriptionist. My medical-ese is excellent, if I do say so myself. I also have the resources to put together a course. I have taught medical terminology to native English-speaking adults intermittently during the course of my career.

I am willing to work most anywhere, long term or short term. I have a BA from a liberal arts college.

How do I get started in this field?

[amity]

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[darkside1]

I taught in a school attached to a military hospital in Saudi Arabia between 2001- 2003 and they recruited esl teachers (male and female) to teach English to medical staff.

There are several hospitals around Saudi that recruit teachers and also in Kuwait (and probably in other gulf states).

You will, however, need a CELTA or Trinity Cert. at least and probably a masters (should be okay in Saudi with degree + Cert. + experience in the field).

Recruitment via online ads and also recruiters (which may be different in the US to the UK).

Pay and benefits generally decent; but the working environment in KSA can be challenging.

[Glenski]

Knowing the lingo is one thing. Being able to teach it to people who don't speak the basic grammar is another thing. I work at a science university with a coworker who has an outside class of nurses. Tough crowd. Look on the teacher forums for someone named Melanie; she has put together a whole program and textbooks herself to teach foreign students in British Columbia.

What exactly do you mean by "I also have the resources to put together a course. "?

What country did you have in mind?

Breaking into such a field will be difficult without some experience teaching abroad, or teaching ESP itself. You will have to prove yourself or be very fortunate. I could point you to a few rare opportunities in Japan, but you don't qualify for the positions.

Look into EFL organizations that cater to ESP. Start with the SIG (special interest groups) of organizations like JALT or IATEFL.

[amity]

Thanks for those answers. I am interested to see that even Saudi Arabia could use female teachers. That is good. I lived in Kuwait for a couple of years long ago, working for Kuwait Airways, and I imagine I would be pretty comfortable in such a position.

Part of the problem with me posting here is that apparently one can only register on one forum at a time, so since I registered for the International Forum I cannot post on the ESP forum (yes, there is one here).

I live near Austin, but I believe there is a CELTA program in Houston. I will look into it. Was hoping to actually get myself overseas and then work on the CELTA over there.

When I was a paramedic I taught med terms along with ACLS, etc. to the Fire Department crew I worked with. I have had 4 years of experience teaching secondary school in the U.S. and I hope this would carry over into working with ESL students. Sometimes a good attitude counts for more than experience!

Thanks for your help.

[Sheikh Inal Ovar]

[amity]

[amity]

I just signed up for a CELTA, and also will enroll in what frankly sounds like a better course, a 16-week course, at the Austin English Academy, an Aston school (they say they are a big chain worldwide. Anyone familiar?)

[Justin Trullinger]

Not familiar with the school chain-

BUt I wanted to chime in with this; I don't do medical, but have worked in ESP a great deal. (Lots of varied purposes, including law, metal refining, and air traffic control)

Knowing a lot about the field, as you clearly do, is a big help. But it isn't the only thing. Knowing how to create circumstances where students will actually learn what you know is the other thing. And for that, teaching experience is what you need. Even if you don't start in the ESP field. Because the fundamental processes of language learning aren't really different in ESP as compared to general English. So though a year in a bad Korean Hogwan probably won't help you much, a year in a good language institute could. CELTA, or another cert, by itself doesn't get you there- it really takes the cert, plus experience. (Remember that in ESP you'll be taking on a higher level role in the profession, and charging more. They'll want to be sure you're worth it.)

If you want to start directly within ESP, then I would recommend fuller and more robust training than a short course certificate alone can provide.


Best,
Justin

[Glenski]

[amity]

Yes, I am working with Dave Sperling on the multi-fora issue. The big problem seems to be that when I try to sign up the software tells me that password and username are already being used. I will get there, I trust.

And thank you for your very good advice, everyone. I applied for several perfectly ordinary teaching positions with language schools in Austin today, and a couple of the low level ones are interested and want to interview me for a regular EFL position. If I can get a starter job immediately, that will give me some practice while I am getting training elsewhere. A foot in the door! Target departure date for overseas job: 6 months to one year in the future.

If any of you hear of any beginner positions, I would be grateful if you would drop me a note. I will try my best to be a seasoned veteran by then!

By the way, one thing I left out and really should have mentioned is that I have been teaching in the public school system for four years now, at the secondary school level. I am a sub, so no lesson plans unless it is a long term assignment, but I do hope that counts for something.

[kerrilee]

I teach at a Medical University in China......I have been a registered nurse for over 10 years...........the students here don't want to learn Medical English even though thats what I really want to teach - they say they just want to learn English! (Actually they don't even really seem to want to do that most of the time either!) I have taught some lessons on Medical English but they did not go so well.
I think you need to find a program for Medical staff who are going to work in an English speaking country as at least they have the motivation.....in China the medical students are forced to learn English (even at Postgrad level) and they really lack the motivation! I was really excited about this job at the start but it soon became clear that I actually did get more out of teaching kindergarten!

[tedkarma]

I have to support what some of the previous posters stated: generally you will be hired FIRST as an EFL teacher and second as an ESP teacher. The ESP will open some doors for you, but you need first to focus on the EFL part.

I've taught a lot of business ESP and even some straight business courses - but in all instances I was hired primarily as an EFL teacher and spread out from there.

There are often large international hospitals in major cities around the world and you might want to focus your job search on those (or at least consider that angle as well). You do have a special talent and skill that is needed. A couple years ago during a hospital stay a relative was told to "sh*it in the cup" for a stool sample. Also to "pee pee in the cup" for a urine sample. This was at a pretty good international hospital too! I'd say they need you!

So now - in the third paragraph I have discounted what I said in the first two. That is the TEFL world for you!

[Irish]

As someone who teaches at a nursing school, I'll add my voice to the chorus. My students are motivated (well, mostly) but do their nursing courses in their native language so they don't have a pressing need for ESP. At higher levels we do some technical stuff but mostly it's EFL. This is certainly true at the lower levels where many students come in with a very low level of English. We focus on improving their general English skills so that they can talk to foreign patients they encounter on their clinicals.

[tedkarma]

Sadly, the hospital to which I refer keeps one or two EFL teachers on staff.

Yep, time for a little outreach to the nursing department!