INSTITUTE OF OPEN EDUCATION AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY - HUE UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES LANGUAGE AND CULTURE TOPIC: MEDICAL DISCOURSE COMMUNITY Instructor Student Class Student’s ID : NGUYỄN VĂN TUẤN : LÊ TRUNG ANH : NGHỆ AN : 7052900522 Nghe An, August, 2023 Abstract This paper is intended to talk about techniques, practices and communication skills between all healthcare professionals, including their patients The introduction discusses the topics that will be reviewed, an overview of research conducted throughout the process; all being primarily based off of factual analysis There are sections that are used for information, history, methods, and other important knowledge included in this specific discourse community There will also be a part where I analyze my discoveries throughout and after my research, my thought process and new things I’ve learned from this experience The conclusion will be the last part of this paper where I will sum up everything I talked about in the entire piece and add more ideas or comments about what I have learned and gained from it This document is established merely on evidence and further knowledge collected before and during the entire process Introduction When we think of doctors’, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Perhaps that they are well-educated, correct and wealthy individuals, right? We all tend to have pre-judgments without necessarily knowing anything about that person It takes a lot more to become a doctor than most people think We all know that it takes many years of education and lots of time, however, there are many other factors that tie into this decision There are four main points you should always take into consideration; expense, time, determination and family Being a doctor isn’t just about being smart or having all the knowledge a person could possibly have, they must have the right personality, the patience to undergo all training and experience necessary, the capability to well as well as, all the sacrifices one has to make to accomplish their objective Any health care professional must have priorities, one of them being to have a strong and passionate aspiration of helping those in need, no matter what the circumstances are “Some people have known their entire life that they wanted to become a Doctor They chose a straight path from high school, through college as a pre-med student and into medical school, never wavering or considering other career,” (Harrison, 2012) There are many difficult aspects that doctors have to deal with on a daily basis; one of them being the obligation to make important and sometimes lifechanging decisions This doesn’t essentially start when on the job, it starts even before; it begins even before one has made the choice to pursue this career For some, the decision of getting into this discourse community could be a startling one; this is when they have to look into it and figure out what requirements and abilities are needed to so Studies show that a majority of medical school applicants are older students who made the choice of becoming a healthcare professional once having a family or had pursued education of a different career All doctors must have perseverance, to push them to their final goal It’s definitely not an easy road; one may find themselves frustrated and might even consider choosing another career Have you ever thought about how many years of education and training it takes to actually hold the “title” of a doctor? Typically, it involves four years of undergraduate studies, four years of medical school, in addition to the three to six years of residency The residency depends on what field you’re going into or where it is exactly you want to practice in If you take a minute to really sum it all up, that’s about twelve years from the moment in which you begin college to the time when you actually start your practice “It takes a certain amount of intelligence, although organization and good study habits can make the difference between a mediocre student getting through med school and a brilliant student not getting in at all,” (Harrison, 2012) There are three important foundations of a triumphant profession in medicine: a love for learning in general, a true intellectual curiosity about medicine in particular, a strong desire to help other, (Bianco, M.D., 2012) It’s essential to maintain wellness in all sciences and preserve the up-most knowledge Doctor’s main purpose is to help those who need it They help the ill, the injured, those who are very sick, etc Their job is to find the best way to cure an ill person The main concept is to analyze the roles of doctors and other healthcare physicians The shared goal of this community is basically to find an effective treatment or help for the patients they are attending They have to maintain a good, healthy relationship with them so that they can find a solution easier and possibly faster A good doctor does not want to leave any unanswered questions when it comes to their patients It's good for a doctor to be skilled in both verbal and written communication Before even starting, doctors set goals for themselves and achieve them by talking to others; whether it be fellow workers, patients, or anyone in general that they feel would be useful Communication & Discourse Fundamental to every recognized medical discourse is communication This includes the communication between employees and staff, patients and anyone else they associate with It’s also important to keep in mind that this incorporates more than just verbal communication; this also consists of written language Basically, in all medical communities, communication is essential in order to establish a healthy relationship with patients, a beneficial accomplishment “In every occupation, whether academic or professional, communication between members of the company or establishment plays a vital role to the business’s success as a whole Therefore each occupation has developed, as they see fit, new and innovative ways to enhance communication between staff members Perhaps the most common of these developments is the discourse community,” (Ennis, 2004) Communication has always played a vital role in a successful medicinal field It’s recommended that healthcare professionals have a warming personality so that the patients and other co-workers feel at comfort with them Without having the strong bond with others, it would be impossible to come to a firm diagnosis for those in need Usually, patients have many questions they hope will be answered by their doctor; which is why making them feel at ease will help them However, it’s also crucial to preserve a beneficial association with their staff members and others in the same community Technology changes by the day and doctors have the obligation to keep up with the new adaptations In all of these advancements, new signs, language and methods are added in These changes are those of medical, pharmaceutical and all healthcare Since these changes are indispensable, it’s the duty of the professionals to adapt to them because this can also change the way health care is administered and alterations to medical forums “The ability to communicate efficiently and effectively is the basis for the success or failure of many businesses, and health institutions are no exception Communication between physicians and/or nurses takes an extremely high precedent and must be clear and unambiguous if the patient is to receive the best possible medical care,” (Ennis, 2004) Miscommunications in a heath care community can cause incorrect diagnoses, damaging surgical inaccuracy, and various other mistakes Forums are created just for this purpose itself Forums are where other healthcare professionals present outbreaks, new knowledge, and recent practices conducted that have not yet been shared with everyone else This can also lead to a proper and more accurate diagnosis Learning new things and modern methods is always an advantage not only for doctors, but the patients as well Patients love doctors that know what they’re talking about and show a passion for truly helping them find a solution to their problem I’ve met many doctors before and I feel more comfortable with a confident doctor; one who shows genuine interest in his/her patient’s illness and tries everything to assist Signals and or non-verbal methods are used amongst professionals These are not used to keep information away from the patients; on the contrary, different language, signals, and methods are used so that the patients not become alarmed It’s understandable that doctors would so because the things they said could be misinterpreted by others and cause much grief Sometimes patients may not have the ability to understand what it is the doctor is trying to explain to them Doctors always want to have the best answers and information for their patients; they don’t ever want to give them a false verdict that may lead to a disappointment in the end “A discourse community is described as groups that have goals or purposes and use communication to achieve these goals He also states that membership in these communities is a matter of choice Members of a discourse community often communicate only in written text evaluating another specific piece of work,” (Borg, 2003) In this specific discourse community, different styles of writing are practiced every day Whether it be medical documents, prescribed medications, medical history papers or any of that sort This is where the literary role takes place in this discourse community It’s critical that all professionals withhold that knowledge in this aspect because one will recognize a great benefit overall Communication is also a way of writing, just in verbal use They must have a great amount of comprehension so that people outside of the discourse community can understand all the information that is being fed to them In a document researched, they stated that a doctor might begin to use the term BUNDY, when referring to the status of a patient in critical care The doctor would effectively illustrate his point to another physician or health care worker, but the patient’s family most likely would not comprehend the meaning, “But Unfortunately Not Dead Yet.” The process by which I conducted my research was quite simple really I decided to come up with a simple survey so that I could see what others think, whether they know anything about the medicinal world or not This was important for the research part because it gave me a chance to compare answers, look at the differences and similarities between them and then be able to conduct an accurate analysis overall At first, I wasn’t sure on how to go about with the survey I wasn’t sure if I should ask direct questions or ask specific questions in order of importance I thought that this would be a good idea because it would show how different people think I thought perhaps it would be better to form questions according to importance because everyone has their own opinion I don’t mean forming questions according to how important I think they are, I mean have different statements and have the survey takers choose from to on how important they think it is in the Medical Discourse The survey would be no more than ten questions After reviewing all the surveys, I noticed that the majority of survey takers thought that the following were the most important: communication, interaction with patients, and advancements in the medical field This is exactly what studies show Everyone agreed that the most important thing any medical professional should have is knowledge In regards to my interview, I decided to interview Dr Miguel Moreno He is a close friend of my mother and a perfect candidate for this assignment I asked him questions about what’s important about his job, what role does he play in the Medical Discourse, what tips he would give to those who plan on having a future in the medical field He assured me that the process of education surely is not an easy one “Don’t settle for average, average is not good enough Make yourself known; that’s a good start to a successful career,” (Rodriguez, 2012) He emphasized that the education is a long process yet, a worthy one It’s a hard job but if you have passion for it, you’ll be successful He assured that giving up should never be option; there are no limits to reaching your goal He explained that this was not always the career he planned on having but since they offered him help with the education, he accepted As time went on, he grew to like it and ended up going very far with it I also conducted another interview, this time; I interviewed a certified medical interpreter, seeing how she had been working around doctors for 23 years Mrs Zoraida Gonzalez “I was the one that had to translate for those families who did not speak English It was sometimes very hard for me because the doctors’ would tell me to inform the families of what was going on and sometimes, I was the one that had to break the bad news of losing a loved one to them.,” (Rodriguez, 2012) She said that she was witness of many cases that broke her heart and she had great respect for the sympathy and the heart doctors had for their patients “They are the ones that run the hospital pretty much, they give orders and in the end, they are the only ones that are able to discharge the patients,” (Rodriguez, 2012.) However, since the hospital is such a busy scene, my interviewees didn’t have much time to answer many questions, therefore I thought observing would help as well Also, I decided to go spend some time at the hospital and observe everything that happened My parents have always worked in hospitals so it was nothing new; however, I never actually took the time to sit there and look at everything that was going on Needless to say, the hospital is an extremely busy scene, whether it be the Emergency Room, Intensive Care Unit, or just the regular floors, there is always something going on I noticed that doctors are depended on for so much I noticed that the majority of the medical staff works off of what the doctor says; they don’t serve a medication to the patient unless the doctor says so, they don’t make any activity unless told to so, they don’t discharge a patient without the doctors’ consent and so much more Doctors are the ones in charge of giving the diagnosis to the patients, they are in charge of maintaining a firm update on them, and if anything bad occurs during their stay, they are the ones that are held responsible for it I spoke to some of the nurses and they said that they’re job is pretty much to follow orders made by the doctor of the patient They give the patients the medications prescribed by the doctor, they check up on the patients from time to time to make sure they are doing well, but don’t make the big decisions For example, I noticed that if a patient asks for a certain medication, no matter what they say, the nurses aren’t allowed to grant it to them unless they get permission from their physician first Another thing I noticed throughout my observation was that the doctor on duty doesn’t stay on the same floor for a very long time; this happens because they are more than one patient’s doctor and not all patients are on the same floor In addition, a patient cannot be discharged from the hospital or clinic without the doctor’s consent This happens because doctors are the only ones who are considered specialized enough to decide whether or not the patient is well enough to leave the observation This is one of the reasons why the medical field fascinates me; they always have something to and everything they is for the well-being of the patient They work hard and require lots of knowledge to find an accurate diagnosis and help cure whatever it is they have After all, I learned to have more respect for all medicinal professionals in general I noticed that these are people with exceptional patience and a vast knowledge of the human body I was so impressed with how fast they were able to decide what treatment was best for their patients Even if they had no idea what the patient had, they consulted with fellow doctors to come up with a proper diagnosis and treatment For example, there was one case especially that really caught my attention There was this woman, who they called an anaphylactic An anaphylactic is one who has many life-threatening allergic reactions These people develop symptoms rather quickly and have few minutes to seek treatment This patient not just caught my attention, she intrigued everyone The doctors, nurses and other staff were appalled as they mentioned that they had never seen anything like it before The littlest thing triggered her allergies and these weren’t your average allergies; she was allergic to many things we wouldn’t even imagine She was triggered by pretty much every fruit, many vegetables, various medicines, latex, but most of all, perfume It seemed as if the doctors did not know what to do, the first time I saw them truly puzzled It was weird because she had reactions sometimes out of nowhere, this is why they had to keep her in an isolated room because they could barely figure out what it was that was triggering her reactions The point of this story is that I earned a great respect for the doctors because they tried everything they could to help this patient out The patients’ main doctor, Dr Mummady, stated that he had never seen anything like this before He consulted with other doctors, from other hospitals, specialists from clinics and so much more just to try and find a reasonable treatment for this patient Around the patient and family, they would use medical terms so that they did not alarm them or worry them As you can see, the medical discourse plays an important role in our society Without it, many wouldn’t have the knowledge to help cure patients that are truly ill There are a set or written as well as unwritten rules and standards that must always be followed in order for this community to reach a successful outcome Communication will always be essential in any discourse community but in this case, there is more than one way of reaching out to others The main goal will always be to maintain the health of patients and make sure that they can whatever they can to make that happen 10