Psychiatry and semantics - a question.

[Kogaion]

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Good night!

I am writing from Europe so that the time in here is different than your.

I have a question connected with the job of psychiatrist. I would like to know what do you think of a foreigner working as a psychiatrist in a country where he uses a language other than his mother-tounge?

In my country chances of beeing a psychiatrist are small and the level of education is very poor so I am thinking about emigration.

I would like to start a residency in other country but here comes a problem. Do you think that I could be a psychiatrist in a full way or the language will be the boarder I can not break through? Do you think that I could understand my patients and their problems or the semantic barrier would be that big that I should rather give up and stand in my country/chage my interests than starting a psychiatry residency in abroad?

I would be very grateful for any answers and help!
Thanks in advance,
Kogaion

P.S. Sorry for the possible misstakes in my spelling - english is not my mother-tounge.

 

[Spiderwoman]

Are you from a country with a lot of immigrants to US? If yes, do they live mostly in certain areas of the country? I mean it would be nice to have a psychiatrist in a cultural cluster who speaks their native language. I am just guessing, not talking from experience. Good Luck.

 

[erg923]

Language is indeed a huge issue in psychiatry and in the practice of mental health, particularly with diagnosis. The devil is often in the details, so to be able to probe, dig, and use the native language of your patient really makes a difference during the clinical interview. The are lots of descriptives and "figures of speech" that can be misunderstood during the diagnostic interview. If so, this can lead to mistaken diagnosis, or discounting or missing something important. All of these same issues apply during psychotherpay or therapeutic intervenetions as well.

Being multilingual is very advantageous to clinical practice in the US, however, speaking and understanding the subtleties of the English language is very very important as well (if you indeed wanna work in the US or the UK). From your writing, you seem to have it down fairly well.

 

[notdeadyet]

Being multilingual is very advantageous to clinical in the US, however, speaking and understanding the subtleties of the English language is very very important as well (if you indeed wanna work in the US or the UK). From your writing, you seem to have it down fairly well.

And regardless of what should be, I'd wager that Psychiatry has more foreign born doctors than most any specialty. Every fourth or so Psychiatrist I've met has been foreign-born, some with not-fluent English.

 

[BabyPsychDoc]

Your grasp of English seems pretty good, judging from your post. There are plenty of psychiatrists in the US (and the UK) that are not native English speakers. I think slang and cultural subtleties may prove more of a problem for a foreign physician in psych (I had 8.5/9 on IELTS test, but I still had to learn some things simply through living here. Eg, "getting stoned" was not exactly in my vocabulary when I emigrated). It is doable, though, if you keep your mind open.

Follow your dream, just be prepared to work hard to achieve it.

 

[Kogaion]

Thank you very much for your answers! I haven't got that much answers in any forum till now.

It is true that there is a region of US where are plenty emigrants from my country - and it is an option indeed; but now I rather think about 'how' than 'where'.

I can two foreign languages so I believe I can start my career up abroad - if it is only possible. As I can see now it is achievable so the only thing I need to do is learning hard the language.

notdeadyet: Thanks for the information. Maby it is the appropiate time to think about US more seriously.

I would thank you once again for the interest. Feel free to add something more connected with the thema. I would be thankful for any further information and opinions.

Thanks in advance,
Kogaion.

 

[ronin12]

it really depends upon the country of origin and how thicker accent you have. I think if one is able to study in medicine and able to pass USMLE's, Toefl, CSA etc. for most part he should have a reasonable understanding of English. There is always oppourtunity to improve your english in USA by attending various courses.Semantics and some local slangs can be difficult to understand, but in USA even american born docs have difficulty understanding some slangs from different parts of USA i.e south vs north. I do not think one will miss a diagnosis or make a grave error by simply not understanding a slang as suggested by a poster in this forum.
and remember there is only one foreign accent which is admired by Americans and i.e British. You will likely have challenges if you have poor english or very thick accent but if you are determined to improve your english skills, you will just do fine.