Would you let your preceptor know if you have language difficulties in advance ?

[UES Girl]

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On rotations ?

A dear friend of mine suggested this knowing the way I communicate. I speak fluently, worked on my pronounciation intensely and have a barely noticeable accent, so people tend to mistaken me for an American often.

The problem is I think in my native language which has a completely different structure to it and as a result I come across very blunt to a point of harshness and often very authoritative or questioning. I notice this a lot, even when I post, people think I am a jackass when I speak my mind directly.

I am only now starting to realize how my language defficiencies have been hurting me. For example, during recent OSCEs one of the standardized patient left a comment that I come across like a misogynist because I refered to her PCP as "he" not he or she and that bothered to a point where she wrote that women can go into medicine too. 🙄

But in my first language, nouns have gender and doctor is a male gendered noun, so I automatically conjugate my sentences according to the nouns gender that is almost a second nature to me without even thinking about it sometimes. Obviously, this kind of harmless language defficiency, on my part, can be be grossly
misinterpreted by people, such as this woman, and can potentially hurt my performance on rotations.

Bottom line, I don't know if this would be something I should 😕 discuss with my preceptor on rotations ? When people think language difficulties they think FOB or someone with a strong accent, not a person who comes across like someone who has been born here.


I am also worried this could hurt me negatively, because it could stigmatize me if I bring
this up in advance, any thoughts ?

 

[bacillus1]

Hmm, so this is why a lot of preceptors/professors think that I'm too "direct" with people (I don't think in Russian, but I mean that is the first language that I grew up with). People have made similar comments about me, but it really hasn't hurt me too much. If you get a comment from your preceptor about it, just tell him/her then. I really don't think it's that big of a deal.

 

[Ackj]

I'm pretty sure your OSCE person was just crazed/deranged/etc. You're a female, so misogyny doesn't really add up. Many people pick a random pronoun when they're speaking about someone, it's a lot easier to say "he" than "he or she: whatever the gender of your doctor happens to be." That's not a language difference, that's just a difficult person.

I'm not really sure about other things though. I've encountered some students with bigtime language problems that make communication tough, but if you're at the point where you barely have an accent, you probably don't need to worry about it. How are your writing skills? I think it can be harder to write well than to speak well. With spoken word it's generally acceptable to be a bit less formal, so writing can be tougher to always use proper grammar.

I wouldn't go out of my way to mention it unless they brought it up. Or if your preceptor has an accent too

 

[StevePerry]

On rotations ?

A dear friend of mine suggested this knowing the way I communicate. I speak fluently, worked on my pronounciation intensely and have a barely noticeable accent, so people tend to mistaken me for an American often.

The problem is I think in my native language which has a completely different structure to it and as a result I come across very blunt to a point of harshness and often very authoritative or questioning. I notice this a lot, even when I post, people think I am a jackass when I speak my mind directly.

I am only now starting to realize how my language defficiencies have been hurting me. For example, during recent OSCEs one of the standardized patient left a comment that I come across like a misogynist because I refered to her PCP as "he" not he or she and that bothered to a point where she wrote that women can go into medicine too. 🙄

But in my first language, nouns have gender and doctor is a male gendered noun, so I automatically conjugate my sentences according to the nouns gender that is almost a second nature to me without even thinking about it sometimes. Obviously, this kind of harmless language defficiency, on my part, can be be grossly
misinterpreted by people, such as this woman, and can potentially hurt my performance on rotations.

Bottom line, I don't know if this would be something I should 😕 discuss with my preceptor on rotations ? When people think language difficulties they think FOB or someone with a strong accent, not a person who comes across like someone who has been born here.


I am also worried this could hurt me negatively, because it could stigmatize me if I bring
this up in advance, any thoughts ?

LOL...

I'm biased, but I wouldn't say anything in advance or change the way you are -- that direct "authoritative nature" will help you more than harm you professionally and set you apart from your somewhat meek peers over here...

It is extremely important however, especially for you, to make a concerted effort to show respect to your preceptors up front in advance starting day one, so they'll understand it is a TCOB-personality thing and not a lack of respect issue towards them...

 

[naseuy]

I don't think that it's going to fly very well to say that you have a language barrier when you speak with a barely noticeable accent. This just sounds like you're making excuses for your communication problems.

 

[TemSirolimus]

One question...do you smile often? A genuine smile neutralizes any nuance of a language that can be misconstrued as rude.

 

[firework]

ennn, how about you intentionally add some accent?

On rotations ?

A dear friend of mine suggested this knowing the way I communicate. I speak fluently, worked on my pronounciation intensely and have a barely noticeable accent, so people tend to mistaken me for an American often.

The problem is I think in my native language which has a completely different structure to it and as a result I come across very blunt to a point of harshness and often very authoritative or questioning. I notice this a lot, even when I post, people think I am a jackass when I speak my mind directly.

I am only now starting to realize how my language defficiencies have been hurting me. For example, during recent OSCEs one of the standardized patient left a comment that I come across like a misogynist because I refered to her PCP as "he" not he or she and that bothered to a point where she wrote that women can go into medicine too. 🙄

But in my first language, nouns have gender and doctor is a male gendered noun, so I automatically conjugate my sentences according to the nouns gender that is almost a second nature to me without even thinking about it sometimes. Obviously, this kind of harmless language defficiency, on my part, can be be grossly
misinterpreted by people, such as this woman, and can potentially hurt my performance on rotations.

Bottom line, I don't know if this would be something I should 😕 discuss with my preceptor on rotations ? When people think language difficulties they think FOB or someone with a strong accent, not a person who comes across like someone who has been born here.


I am also worried this could hurt me negatively, because it could stigmatize me if I bring
this up in advance, any thoughts ?

 

[bacillus1]

One question...do you smile often? A genuine smile neutralizes any nuance of a language that can be misconstrued as rude.

Us Russian people tend to not smile unless we are truly happy. I know I don't fake smiles.

 

[owlegrad]

I might say on my first day that I am a direct person and that I don't mean anything rude by it. I probably just wouldn't bring it up unless the preceptor did. If it becomes an issue just say that it is something you are working on.

 

[R xxx]

LOL. This thread is just too funny. I've been told that I am bossy, blunt, don't hold back, etc...etc...but I also smile/laugh a lot, so people tend to not be bothered by it.

I would not bring it up as a language barrier because it is not. Probably more of a cultural thing. Some people are just more serious than others. Just try to smile more, maybe it will help.