International medical graduate doctor to doctor telephone communication: A genre perspective

• Published in: English for specific purposes (New York, N.Y.) N.Y.), 2014-07, Vol.35, p.41-53
• Main Authors: Pryor, Elizabeth, Woodward-Kron, Robyn
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: English for Medical Purposes; Genre analysis; International medical graduates; Medical communication; Non-native speaker doctors
• ISSN: 0889-4906; 1873-1937
• DOI: 10.1016/j.esp.2013.12.001

•We examined non-native speaker junior doctor to senior doctor telephone calls.•We developed a model of the generic structure potential of intra-professional calls.•In the effective calls the junior doctors maintained the interactional initiative.•Ineffective calls featured multi-faceted problems with the organisation of information.•English for Medical Purposes courses should include doctor to doctor communication. Few English for Medical Purposes studies focus on the spoken communication between doctors in the professional setting. This study examined the effectiveness of telephone calls from International Medical Graduate (IMG) doctors to a more senior doctor as part of simulation training to increase patient safety and well-being. We adopted genre analysis to examine 12 telephone consultations about a critically ill patient made by junior IMG doctors to a senior doctor. With the assistance of the senior doctor informant, two successful calls were identified and analysed functionally for their generic structure and linguistic features. Feedback comments from the senior doctor on all the calls were transcribed and analysed thematically. The findings from the genre analysis of the successful calls as well as from the senior doctor feedback informed the development of an analytical tool to examine the less effective calls. Insights from the senior doctor highlight the institutional, professional, and situational variables contributing to the effective calls. A generic structure of nine stages was identified for the effective calls. In the less effective calls, the findings show difficulties with sequencing, realisation of stages, and interactional management with shifts from workplace discourse to apprenticeship discourse features. Implications of the findings for EMP course design are discussed.