Medical English I is a compulsory course in the first year of the study of Medicine in English. It includes 20 hours of seminars (1 ECTS).
The aim of the course is to introduce the students to the language of medicine and medical terminology. They will acquire the rules of word formation, which will enable them to understand the meaning of medical terms and help them understand professional medical texts during their study. Through the preparation and a short oral presentation on a given topic, the students will improve their ability to find, summarize, and present data and information, including their fluency in the pronunciation of medical terms.
Course content: Morphology of medical terms and principles of word formation applied to medical terminology; interpretation of word roots, combining forms, suffixes, and prefixes in the formation and understanding of medical terms; review of the basic rules for the use of articles and morphological rules for the formation of classical plurals specific to medical language; translation of key terms into Croatian. The students individually prepare and present a short oral presentation on a topic from their professional courses studied in the first year and receive constructive feedback on their performance. The course ends after successful completion of all oral (presentations) and written (short quizzes, final test) assignments.
Learning outcomes At the end of the course the students will be able to: - recognize and interpret the meaning of a medical term based on its word root, prefix, and suffix - apply the principles of word-formation in the construction of medical terms - apply the rules of article use in medical writing - differentiate between plural formation in General English and English for medical purposes - critically analyze the existing literature on the chosen presentation topic - give a presentation - communicate clearly and accurately new knowledge
Course structure: The course is organized through 20 hours of seminars. It is distributed continuously for 10 weeks in the first semester of the study. The course is based on the students’ active participation in the seminars, successfully completed assignments and oral presentations.