Nearly 1/3 of UBC med students are ESL

According to a new study in the BC Medical Journal, about 60% of first- and second-year University of British Columbia medical students speak at least one other language besides English, and nearly a third speak English as a second language. Only a quarter feel they are proficient enough to communicate with patients in other languages, which the study believes is because students do not know how to translate all the medical terminology they learn in English into other languages. The survey results suggest a need to teach terminology in different languages so patients can benefit from students' multilingual skills. BC Medical Journal | Vancouver Sun