Tiểu luận ngôn ngữ và văn hóa

INSTITUTE OF OPEN EDUCATION AND INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY - HUE UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

LANGUAGE AND CULTURE
TOPIC:

MEDICAL DISCOURSE COMMUNITY

Instructor
Student
Class
Student’s ID

: NGUYỄN VĂN TUẤN
: LÊ TRUNG ANH
: NGHỆ AN 6
: 7052900522

Nghe An, August, 2023

Abstract
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This paper is intended to talk about techniques, practices and
communication skills between all healthcare professionals, including their patients.
The introduction discusses the topics that will be reviewed, an overview of
research conducted throughout the process; all being primarily based off of factual
analysis. There are sections that are used for information, history, methods, and
other important knowledge included in this specific discourse community. There

will also be a part where I analyze my discoveries throughout and after my
research, my thought process and new things I’ve learned from this experience.
The conclusion will be the last part of this paper where I will sum up
everything I talked about in the entire piece and add more ideas or comments about
what I have learned and gained from it. This document is established merely on
evidence and further knowledge collected before and during the entire process.
Introduction
When we think of doctors’, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?
Perhaps that they are well-educated, correct and wealthy individuals, right? We all
tend to have pre-judgments without necessarily knowing anything about that
person. It takes a lot more to become a doctor than most people think. We all know
that it takes many years of education and lots of time, however, there are many
other factors that tie into this decision. There are four main points you should
always take into consideration; expense, time, determination and family. Being a
doctor isn’t just about being smart or having all the knowledge a person could
possibly have, they must have the right personality, the patience to undergo all
training and experience necessary, the capability to do well as well as, all the
sacrifices one has to make to accomplish their objective.
Any health care professional must have priorities, one of them being to have
a strong and passionate aspiration of helping those in need, no matter what the
circumstances are. “Some people have known their entire life that they wanted to
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become a Doctor. They chose a straight path from high school, through college as
a pre-med student and into medical school, never wavering or considering other
career,” (Harrison, 2012).
There are many difficult aspects that doctors have to deal with on a daily
basis; one of them being the obligation to make important and sometimes lifechanging decisions. This doesn’t essentially start when on the job, it starts even
before; it begins even before one has made the choice to pursue this career. For

some, the decision of getting into this discourse community could be a startling
one; this is when they have to look into it and figure out what requirements and
abilities are needed to do so. Studies show that a majority of medical school
applicants are older students who made the choice of becoming a healthcare
professional once having a family or had pursued education of a different career.
All doctors must have perseverance, to push them to their final goal. It’s definitely
not an easy road; one may find themselves frustrated and might even consider
choosing another career.
Have you ever thought about how many years of education and training it
takes to actually hold the “title” of a doctor? Typically, it involves four years of
undergraduate studies, four years of medical school, in addition to the three to six
years of residency. The residency depends on what field you’re going into or
where it is exactly you want to practice in. If you take a minute to really sum it all
up, that’s about twelve years from the moment in which you begin college to the
time when you actually start your practice. “It takes a certain amount of
intelligence, although organization and good study habits can make the difference
between a mediocre student getting through med school and a brilliant student not
getting in at all,” (Harrison, 2012).
There are three important foundations of a triumphant profession in
medicine: a love for learning in general, a true intellectual curiosity about
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medicine in particular, a strong desire to help other, (Bianco, M.D., 2012). It’s
essential to maintain wellness in all sciences and preserve the up-most knowledge.
Doctor’s main purpose is to help those who need it. They help the ill, the
injured, those who are very sick, etc. Their job is to find the best way to cure an ill
person. The main concept is to analyze the roles of doctors and other healthcare
physicians. The shared goal of this community is basically to find an effective
treatment or help for the patients they are attending. They have to maintain a good,

healthy relationship with them so that they can find a solution easier and possibly
faster. A good doctor does not want to leave any unanswered questions when it
comes to their patients. It's good for a doctor to be skilled in both verbal and
written communication. Before even starting, doctors set goals for themselves and
achieve them by talking to others; whether it be fellow workers, patients, or
anyone in general that they feel would be useful.

Communication & Discourse
Fundamental to every recognized medical discourse is communication. This
includes the communication between employees and staff, patients and anyone else
they associate with. It’s also important to keep in mind that this incorporates more
than just verbal communication; this also consists of written language. Basically,
in all medical communities, communication is essential in order to establish a
healthy relationship with patients, a beneficial accomplishment. “In every
occupation,

whether

academic

or

professional,

communication

between

members of the company or establishment plays a vital role to the business’s
success as a whole. Therefore each occupation has developed, as they see fit, new

and innovative ways to enhance communication between staff members. Perhaps
the most common of these developments is the discourse community,” (Ennis,
2004).
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Communication has always played a vital role in a successful medicinal
field. It’s recommended that healthcare professionals have a warming personality
so that the patients and other co-workers feel at comfort with them. Without having
the strong bond with others, it would be impossible to come to a firm diagnosis for
those in need. Usually, patients have many questions they hope will be answered
by their doctor; which is why making them feel at ease will help them. However,
it’s also crucial to preserve a beneficial association with their staff members and
others in the same community. Technology changes by the day and doctors
have the obligation to keep up with the new adaptations. In all of these
advancements, new signs, language and methods are added in. These changes are
those of medical, pharmaceutical and all healthcare. Since these changes are
indispensable, it’s the duty of the professionals to adapt to them because this can
also change the way health care is administered and alterations to medical forums.
“The ability to communicate efficiently and effectively is the basis for
the success or failure of many businesses, and health institutions are no
exception. Communication between physicians and/or nurses takes an extremely
high precedent and must be clear and unambiguous if the patient is to receive the
best possible medical care,” (Ennis, 2004). Miscommunications in a heath care
community can cause incorrect diagnoses, damaging surgical inaccuracy, and
various other mistakes.
Forums are created just for this purpose itself. Forums are where other
healthcare professionals present outbreaks, new knowledge, and recent practices
conducted that have not yet been shared with everyone else. This can also lead to
a proper and more accurate diagnosis. Learning new things and modern methods is

always an advantage not only for doctors, but the patients as well. Patients love
doctors that know what they’re talking about and show a passion for truly helping
them find a solution to their problem. I’ve met many doctors before and I feel more
comfortable with a confident doctor; one who shows genuine interest in his/her
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patient’s illness and tries everything to assist.
Signals and or non-verbal methods are used amongst professionals. These
are not used to keep information away from the patients; on the contrary, different
language, signals, and methods are used so that the patients do not become
alarmed. It’s understandable that doctors would do so because the things they said
could be misinterpreted by others and cause much grief. Sometimes patients may
not have the ability to understand what it is the doctor is trying to explain to them.
Doctors always want to have the best answers and information for their patients;
they don’t ever want to give them a false verdict that may lead to a disappointment
in the end.
“A discourse community is described as groups that have goals or purposes
and use communication to achieve these goals. He also states that membership in
these communities is a matter of choice. Members of a discourse community often
communicate only in written text evaluating another specific piece of work,”
(Borg, 2003). In this specific discourse community, different styles of writing are
practiced every day. Whether it be medical documents, prescribed medications,
medical history papers or any of that sort. This is where the literary role takes place
in this discourse community. It’s critical that all professionals withhold that
knowledge in this aspect because one will recognize a great benefit overall.
Communication is also a way of writing, just in verbal use. They must have a great
amount of comprehension so that people outside of the discourse community can
understand all the information that is being fed to them. In a document researched,
they stated that a doctor might begin to use the term BUNDY, when referring to

the status of a patient in critical care. The doctor would effectively illustrate his
point to another physician or health care worker, but the patient’s family most
likely would not comprehend the meaning, “But Unfortunately Not Dead Yet.”
The process by which I conducted my research was quite simple really. I
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decided to come up with a simple survey so that I could see what others think,
whether they know anything about the medicinal world or not. This was important
for the research part because it gave me a chance to compare answers, look at the
differences and similarities between them and then be able to conduct an
accurate analysis overall. At first, I wasn’t sure on how to go about with the
survey. I wasn’t sure if I should ask direct questions or ask specific questions in
order of importance. I thought that this would be a good idea because it would
show how different people think. I thought perhaps it would be better to form
questions according to importance because everyone has their own opinion. I don’t
mean forming questions according to how important I think they are, I mean have
different statements and have the survey takers choose from 1 to 5 on how
important they think it is in the Medical Discourse. The survey would be no more
than ten questions. After reviewing all the surveys, I noticed that the majority of
survey takers thought that the following were the most important: communication,
interaction with patients, and advancements in the medical field. This is exactly
what studies show. Everyone agreed that the most important thing any medical
professional should have is knowledge.
In regards to my interview, I decided to interview Dr. Miguel Moreno.
He is a close friend of my mother and a perfect candidate for this assignment. I
asked him questions about what’s important about his job, what role does he play
in the Medical Discourse, what tips he would give to those who plan on having a
future in the medical field. He assured me that the process of education surely is
not an easy one. “Don’t settle for average, average is not good enough. Make

yourself known; that’s a good start to a successful career,” (Rodriguez, 2012). He
emphasized that the education is a long process yet, a worthy one. It’s a hard job
but if you have passion for it, you’ll be successful. He assured that giving up
should never be option; there are no limits to reaching your goal. He explained
that this was not always the career he planned on having but since they offered him
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help with the education, he accepted. As time went on, he grew to like it and ended
up going very far with it.
I also conducted another interview, this time; I interviewed a certified
medical interpreter, seeing how she had been working around doctors for 23 years.
Mrs. Zoraida Gonzalez. “I was the one that had to translate for those families who
did not speak English. It was sometimes very hard for me because the doctors’
would tell me to inform the families of what was going on and sometimes, I was the
one that had to break the bad news of losing a loved one to them.,” (Rodriguez,
2012). She said that she was witness of many cases that broke her heart and she
had great respect for the sympathy and the heart doctors had for their patients.
“They are the ones that run the hospital pretty much, they give orders and in the
end, they are the only ones that are able to discharge the patients,” (Rodriguez,
2012.) However, since the hospital is such a busy scene, my interviewees didn’t
have much time to answer many questions, therefore I thought observing would
help as well.
Also, I decided to go spend some time at the hospital and observe everything
that happened. My parents have always worked in hospitals so it was nothing new;
however, I never actually took the time to sit there and look at everything that was
going on. Needless to say, the hospital is an extremely busy scene, whether it be
the Emergency Room, Intensive Care Unit, or just the regular floors, there is
always something going on. I noticed that doctors are depended on for so much. I
noticed that the majority of the medical staff works off of what the doctor says;

they don’t serve a medication to the patient unless the doctor says so, they don’t
make any activity unless told to do so, they don’t discharge a patient without the
doctors’ consent and so much more. Doctors are the ones in charge of giving the
diagnosis to the patients, they are in charge of maintaining a firm update on them,
and if anything bad occurs during their stay, they are the ones that are held
responsible for it. I spoke to some of the nurses and they said that they’re job is
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pretty much to follow orders made by the doctor of the patient. They give the
patients the medications prescribed by the doctor, they check up on the patients
from time to time to make sure they are doing well, but don’t make the big
decisions. For example, I noticed that if a patient asks for a certain medication, no
matter what they say, the nurses aren’t allowed to grant it to them unless they get
permission from their physician first.
Another thing I noticed throughout my observation was that the doctor on
duty doesn’t stay on the same floor for a very long time; this happens because they
are more than one patient’s doctor and not all patients are on the same floor. In
addition, a patient cannot be discharged from the hospital or clinic without the
doctor’s consent. This happens because doctors are the only ones who are
considered specialized enough to decide whether or not the patient is well enough
to leave the observation. This is one of the reasons why the medical field fascinates
me; they always have something to do and everything they do is for the well-being
of the patient. They work hard and require lots of knowledge to find an accurate
diagnosis and help cure whatever it is they have.
After all, I learned to have more respect for all medicinal professionals in
general. I noticed that these are people with exceptional patience and a vast
knowledge of the human body. I was so impressed with how fast they were able to
decide what treatment was best for their patients. Even if they had no idea what the
patient had, they consulted with fellow doctors to come up with a proper diagnosis

and treatment. For example, there was one case especially that really caught my
attention. There was this woman, who they called an anaphylactic. An
anaphylactic is one who has many life-threatening allergic reactions. These people
develop symptoms rather quickly and have few minutes to seek treatment. This
patient not just caught my attention, she intrigued everyone. The doctors, nurses
and other staff were appalled as they mentioned that they had never seen
anything like it before. The littlest thing triggered her allergies and these weren’t
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your average allergies; she was allergic to many things we wouldn’t even imagine.
She was triggered by pretty much every fruit, many vegetables, various medicines,
latex, but most of all, perfume. It seemed as if the doctors did not know what to do,
the first time I saw them truly puzzled. It was weird because she had reactions
sometimes out of nowhere, this is why they had to keep her in an isolated room
because they could barely figure out what it was that was triggering her reactions.
The point of this story is that I earned a great respect for the doctors because they
tried everything they could to help this patient out. The patients’ main doctor, Dr.
Mummady, stated that he had never seen anything like this before. He consulted
with other doctors, from other hospitals, specialists from clinics and so much more
just to try and find a reasonable treatment for this patient. Around the patient and
family, they would use medical terms so that they did not alarm them or worry
them.
As you can see, the medical discourse plays an important role in our society.
Without it, many wouldn’t have the knowledge to help cure patients that are truly
ill. There are a set or written as well as unwritten rules and standards that must
always be followed in order for this community to reach a successful outcome.
Communication will always be essential in any discourse community but in this
case, there is more than one way of reaching out to others. The main goal will
always be to maintain the health of patients and make sure that they can do

whatever they can to make that happen.

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