Become a doctor with poor English writing skills.

[Linda0987654321]

Good afternoon everyone,

I'm attending a university and my current stats are: GPA is 3.8, MCAT is 515. I have done over 200 hours of clinical volunteering, 460 hours of clinical research, 50 hrs of docs shadowing and 100 hours in other extracurricular activities. There was one time when I was trying to speak to a patient while filling out a document. I couldn't hear it clearly and asked her to spell her name and she told me: "How come you are a college student and don't even know how to spell a name?" 🙁. I am very concerning my English skills as it is my second language. As you can see, my sentences are brief and contain grammatical errors. I've been trying to improve it every day, but it's challenging because no one has been trying to fix my mistake. I spent hours on a paper and scored very high on it, but I still feel it is not enough to become a doctor. I want to hear your perspectives, what do you think about my chance of getting into a medical school?

Thank you and please feel free to fix any errors that I've made above.

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[puahate]

Why would you use being in "top 1" uni in a state as a qualifier?

I think you should be ok. Have multiple people look over your essays

 

[Linda0987654321]

Why would you use being in "top 1" uni in a state as a qualifier?

I think you should be ok. Have multiple people look over your essays

Thank you for your response. I just want to give an insight that I got accepted to a University, but wait let me fix my post.

 

[pms_testosterone]

Just get someone to proofread your application to make sure it doesn't have any mistakes.

Your spoken English will be more important for medical school admissions, as it will determine how well you do at your interviews.

 

[DokterMom]

Take a year to improve your English. Seriously. Make improving your spoken and written English your number one priority for an entire year.

How should you do that? Read newspapers and magazines for pleasure. Don't focus on scientific literature because scientific writing is very different from spoken English. Instead, read novels and high quality literary prose in publications like The Atlantic, New Yorker, Time Magazine. Listen to the television and talk radio -- NPR, BBC, and other high-caliber intellectual programs.

Force yourself to talk on the phone. It's very difficult, because all of your non-verbal cues will be taken away. You will need to do a lot of 'confirmation seeking' at first to make sure you understand and are understood, but that will be good practice for working with patients.

To improve your written English try recording yourself reading a paragraph from a good book or respectable magazine, then come back the next day and transcribe what you've written. See how close your punctuation is and re-write the paragraph again afterwards correctly.

If you can find writing classes geared for English as a second language speakers, take them. If you can't, take variations of 'freshman English' at a community college on a pass/fail basis. Talk to the professor before signing up to make sure your personal priorities (clarity and basic technical competence) are in line with his/her goals for the class -- they might not be.

Having lived in another country and attended school taught in a difference language, I understand how difficult it is! But know that an "English language year" will be time well spent.


Edit: To clarify -- Your medical school application is not the point. The greater risk is not that you don't get in, but rather that you are accepted but can't succeed due to a language barrier.

 

[Linda0987654321]

Take a year to improve your English. Seriously. Make improving your spoken and written English your number one priority for an entire year.

How should you do that? Read newspapers and magazines for pleasure. Don't focus on scientific literature because scientific writing is very different from spoken English. Instead, read novels and high quality literary prose in publications like The Atlantic, New Yorker, Time Magazine. Listen to the television and talk radio -- NPR, BBC, and other high-caliber intellectual programs.

Force yourself to talk on the phone. It's very difficult, because all of your non-verbal cues will be taken away. You will need to do a lot of 'confirmation seeking' at first to make sure you understand and are understood, but that will be good practice for working with patients.

To improve your written English try recording yourself reading a paragraph from a good book or respectable magazine, then come back the next day and transcribe what you've written. See how close your punctuation is and re-write the paragraph again afterwards correctly.

If you can find writing classes geared for English as a second language speakers, take them. If you can't, take variations of 'freshman English' at a community college on a pass/fail basis. Talk to the professor before signing up to make sure your personal priorities (clarity and basic technical competence) are in line with his/her goals for the class -- they might not be.

Having lived in another country and attended school taught in a difference language, I understand how difficult it is! But know that an "English language year" will be time well spent.


Edit: To clarify -- Your medical school application is not the point. The greater risk is not that you don't get in, but rather that you are accepted but can't succeed due to a language barrier.

Thank you! I'm actually taking a gap year, which means applying to medical school after I finished my senior year. I will spend this one year to improve my English and try to find a job to develop my communication skills. I've been so depressed when thinking about my poor English skills, but I will not let it buries my future. Moreover, I can lead a normal conversation without having him know English as my second language, although I cannot endure an in-depth discussion for long. Would you mind correcting my post or replies if they are miswritten? I appreciate your time.

 

[Linda0987654321]

Just get someone to proofread your application to make sure it doesn't have any mistakes.

Your spoken English will be more important for medical school admissions, as it will determine how well you do at your interviews.

Thank you for your reply. It looks like you are a medical student, would you mind answering my questions about medical school curriculum? Do you have to have excellent writing skill to succeed in medical school?

 

[DokterMom]

Thank you! I'm actually taking a gap year, which means applying to medical school after I finished my senior year. I will spend this one year to improve my English and try to find a job to develop my communication skills. I've been so depressed when thinking about my poor English skills, but I will not let it buries my future. Moreover, I can lead a normal conversation without having him know English as my second language, although I cannot endure an in-depth discussion for long. Would you mind correcting my post or replies if they are miswritten? I appreciate your time.

Since you asked specifically for corrections, I will:

"but I will not let it buries bury my future"

(It's future tense, not present)​

"Moreover, I can lead a normal conversation without having him know English as my second language,"

The phrase "having him know" implies it is one specific male person you are talking about. Even though it is arguably less technically correct, a native English speaker would say "having them know English is (or was)" We tend to use 'they' or 'them' in the third person for someone of unknown gender in the third person, or often even 'you' to mean a generic person who is not, specifically, you. The word 'someone' can be a very useful substitute in many (most?) cases.​

"I cannot endure an in-depth discussion for long."

The word "endure" implies that it would be unbearably painful for you to have a long in-depth discussion. I'm guessing you mean that you wouldn't be able to pass as a native-speaker for a long in-depth discussion.
​

What writing skills are needed to succeed? Clarity is most important in medical communications. And for clarity, short sentences are very effective.

 

[Linda0987654321]

Since you asked specifically for corrections, I will:

"but I will not let it buries bury my future"

(It's future tense, not present)​

"Moreover, I can lead a normal conversation without having him know English as my second language,"

The phrase "having him know" implies it is one specific male person you are talking about. Even though it is arguably less technically correct, a native English speaker would say "having them know English is (or was)" We tend to use 'they' or 'them' in the third person for someone of unknown gender in the third person, or often even 'you' to mean a generic person who is not, specifically, you. The word 'someone' can be a very useful substitute in many (most?) cases.​

"I cannot endure an in-depth discussion for long."

The word "endure" implies that it would be unbearably painful for you to have a long in-depth discussion. I'm guessing you mean that you wouldn't be able to pass as a native-speaker for a long in-depth discussion.
​

What writing skills are needed to succeed? Clarity is most important in medical communications. And for clarity, short sentences are very effective.

Thank you very much!

 

[DokterMom]

You're very welcome! Keep insisting that people give you the small corrections. I remember getting so frustrated when all I could ever get people to tell me was how well I was doing when I knew enough to know my language skills were far from perfect.

 

[Linda0987654321]

You're very welcome! Keep insisting that people give you the small corrections. I remember getting so frustrated when all I could ever get people to tell me was how well I was doing when I knew enough to know my language skills were far from perfect.

May I ask if English is your native language?

 

[DokterMom]

May I ask if English is your native language?

It is. Once upon a time I was bi-lingual, but my skills have atrophied to the point where I can no longer honestly claim any meaningful competence.