Job Discussion Forums

[aot531]

So... I haven't been able to find much info about teaching Medical or Scientific English. Given that English is very much the international language of bioscience research, it seems there must be a lot of opportunities in this area -- does anyone have any thoughts, perspectives, advice?

About me, briefly: American female; BA in English; MD with a few years residency training but not currently a licensed physician; several years of experience in biological research (cancer stem cells, mostly). No teaching experience to speak of, no certification. I might take a course to make myself feel more prepared, but it won't be CELTA-level. Oh, and I have A LOT of debt (med school loans).

Thanks so much for any help.

[spiral78]

We teach medical and health science English here (Netherlands, university) quite a lot, at all levels. But you would need serious teaching quals in addition to a background in medicine. MA TESL/TEFL or MA Ed. at minimum.
And we don't pay enough to pay back loans

Perhaps more opps in Asia. And likely newbie level, without real language teaching quals.... it's not content teaching, but language - they are very different fields.

[aot531]

Thanks for the reply.

I did see an article online making the argument that the focus of English for health care professionals should be content and context, with grammar and structure as secondary concerns. Interesting article -- but maybe not the reality in the field? (Too bad for me )

Anyway, I figured that without teaching experience or credentials, and with a lot of debt, it'd be Asia for me, but I'd like to find a way to put my hard-earned (and expensive) education to work.

http://www.usingenglish.com/teachers/articles/changing-paradigm-for-medical-english-language-teaching.html

[Glenski]

Your question invites plenty more.

Where are you willing to work?
How soon can you get certified?
For how long do you plan to take on teaching ESP/EST? (That is, are you going to return to practicing medicine?)

Teaching ESP for medical / scientific English is a niche market. Are you thinking about teaching college or HS age students who want to pursue careers in science/medicine, or teaching adults already in the profession? The latter might be best approached if you joined a business English agency that caters to that line of work (although people like Melodie Hull, a nurse already and the author of the article you linked, have take on the challenge to teach English to foreign nurses in Canada with a program of her own design). As for teaching the former, it'll be a hit and miss thing (mostly miss, I suspect) depending on where you teach (country).

As Hull pointed out, you might have 2 camps of teachers involved (although I feel there is a third): the trained English teacher and the business/career specific professional that is often consulted to supplement/complement classes. The third that I will add is the person with a science/professional background who also has training/experience in TEFL. Look up works by Judy Noguchi and her unique teaching method as an excellent example of the last one. A major difference between Noguchi and Hull is that one teaches in an English-speaking country (Canada), while the other teaches in a non-English speaking country (Japan). I see that Hull now offers an online course and would like to know a lot more about it and its success, especially since she wrote "Broken English is accepted", but does not say to what degree. (Melodie and I have corresponded a bit in the past, just so you know. I have also met Judy but not discussed her work at length.)

Hull's article is 6 years old, so her idea of a "paradigm shift" in teaching methods is no longer something new in ESP/EST fields. I could also show you links to medical English programs in Japan (where I work) at universities, where medical professionals set up one (don't know if it's still in effect, as the originators have long since left Japan) and foreign English teachers like myself set up another (and were told after 2-3 years they were no longer needed to teach their component because the scientific Japanese staff could just as easily take it over [yeah, right!]).

As for your debt, just how much do you figure you need to pay off per month? TEFL doesn't pay all that much.

I am a scientist by training but have taught EFL in Japan for the past 12 years and am currently in a science uni, just so you know.

[naturegirl321]

Try universities. A guy I work with choose the uni were at becuase it's one of the best in the world for cancer research. He teaches biology as well as writing and presentation.

[Glenski]

[fluffyhamster]

Just thought I'd mention that there are quite a few posts if not threads by M.Hull (and others!) over on the Teacher Discussion forums of Dave's; a seach there for 'EMP or 'medical' will soon unearth 'em.

[aot531]

Thanks for the info, everybody.

fluffyhamster -- I'll check that out; didn't think to look there.

Glenski -- So much fascinating information! I guess I haven't given all that much thought to ESL/ESP teaching methodology (until now), but it seems that might be a vibrant (controversial?) area of research/debate. Something that's a personal interest of yours? I will look into the sources you mention -- thanks for the ideas.

My dream is to work in Egypt, Russia, or really anywhere in the Middle East, but I'm willing to go anywhere to start out. I'd thought of starting in the fall (my lease is up in September), but there's no real reason I couldn't start ASAP. My current plan is to take a 100 hour in-class TESOL certification course in May/June. Not sure how much that's actually worth (I may just be spending unnecessary time and money without getting anything worthwhile to show for it), but if nothing else, it'll make me feel more prepared.

Not sure if I plan to make this my career, but I suppose I will if I like it. I highly doubt that I'll ever go back to practicing medicine. If I do make teaching a career, I imagine I will get more advanced training/certification at some point -- but I'm not there yet.

I envisioned myself teaching adults already in a medical/scientific profession; I think that's where my professional experience would be most relevant/worthwhile. Doesn't seem that those sorts of people would really be at a university, though -- I guess that's where the suggestion of a specialized teaching agency comes in. If I can ask, Glenski, how did you get into your current work?

As far as debt, I realize TEFL is no jackpot, but I figure if I taught somewhere with housing provided, and minimal taxes, I could save $1000 (USD) a month fairly easily, and possibly more, if I lived frugally.

Any further feedback/advice would be extremely appreciated -- thanks!

[Glenski]

[aot531]

[Isla Guapa]

I have been doing some scientific proofreading in Mexico for a physics prof at the UNAM. He sends me articles that he's planning to submit for publication, and I do my best to fix his English. It's quite interesting that I am able to do this with understanding 75% of what he's writing about since I have no background in physics at all! I don't like to think about what his articles looked like before he found me to help him out .

[Glenski]

[aot531]

[Glenski]

[aot531]