1. Presenting complaints
Understanding culture, interpreting body language

2. Working in general practice
Short questions in the general history, general practice in the UK

3. Instructions and procedures
Preparation for carrying out a procedure

4. Explaining and reassuring
Research into complaints

5. Dealing with medication
Prescribing drugs in hospital, clinical incident reporting

6. Lifestyle
Sympathy and empathy, research in medicine

7. Parents and young children
Reassurance, baby's six-week check, applying for work

8. Communication
Understanding patients, asking and responding to open questions, information web search

9. Working in psychiatry
Asking about self-harm, describing patients

10. Terminal illness and dying
Care in the community, recognising patients' emotions, informing a relative about death

11. Working in a team
Politeness in different cultures, appropriate responses, asking a senior colleague for help

12. Diversity at work
Asking about culture, spiritual needs in palliative care, name awareness, avoiding and responding to tactless comments

Medicine is suitable for junior and trainee doctors, and advanced nurses, who need to communicate in English with patients and colleagues. The course presents students with English from a variety of medical fields, develops their communication skills, and provides background information in to key medical and care concepts.

Medicine teaches students specialist medical terminology for effective communication with colleagues. The Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine, the world's best-selling medical handbook, provides a backdrop to the course, and is referenced throughout.

The syllabus for Medicine is based on the communication skills for OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Examination) which assesses students' clinical communication skills in context. The 'Patient Care' section teaches students how to convey instructions to patients and their relatives in a sympathetic and clear way, especially if dealing with sensitive matters.

'It's my job' sections offer students an insight into the lives of real people who work in medicine. The profiles are based on authentic interviews and sources, and teach students about the skills required for different medical environments.

The course supports teachers in the vocational teaching situation, providing them with specialist background information for the medical industry.

The 'Signs and Symptoms' section focuses on common diseases and conditions that are relevant to a specific unit. This provides students with the necessary vocabulary for describing common signs of illness. Listening and speaking skills are particularly emphasised and practised in Medicine 2, as these are essential for doctor-patient relations.