A German language course for nurses and other medical professionals should be designed to deepen their language skills and profession-specific vocabulary. Here are the main topics included in such a course:
Professional Communication
We will teach you how to conduct conversations with patients, gather information, and speak with their relatives and caregivers. You will practice professional interactions with doctors, nurses, and other medical staff. The course will also cover how to participate in meetings and handovers.
Specialized Vocabulary and Grammar
Your vocabulary will expand to include medical terminology (illnesses, symptoms, diagnoses), professional terms for nursing, procedures, medications and their uses, and vocabulary for medical devices and care aids.
We will focus on key grammatical points, including using passive voice in nursing reports, Konjunktiv I and II for indirect speech and hypotheses, nominalizations and compound words for precise expression, and complex sentence structures (relative clauses, infinitive clauses, participial constructions).
Reading and Writing Skills
You will learn to analyze and interpret medical texts, nursing instructions, articles, studies, package inserts, and protocols. We will also teach you how to use medical databases and online resources.
Your writing will focus on creating reports, messages, and patient documentation in a medical context. You will learn to complete medical history forms, create and update care plans, document patient progress and interventions, and conduct handovers and patient rounds independently.
Cultural Competence and Practical Skills
It is crucial to be able to communicate with patients from different cultures, understand cultural differences in care, and deal with misunderstandings. You will be sensitized to the needs and expectations of patients from diverse backgrounds.
In this course, you’ll learn to understand instructions and information in nursing practice and to participate in professional development. We will also use audio and video materials to help you understand nursing reports and doctors‘ instructions.
The course includes practical exercises like simulated patient conversations, meetings, and role-playing for emergency situations, specific medical conditions, and diagnostic interviews. You will also receive feedback to help you with self-reflection.
Furthermore, we will cover key topics in medical and nursing law (patient rights, confidentiality), ethics in nursing (caring for the dying), patient file documentation, and data protection.
Exam Preparation
For exam preparation, we will teach you strategies for oral and written exams, and you will practice for the specialized language exam at the Medical Association.
This B2/C1 German course for academic medical professions ensures that you can communicate at a high level and master the linguistic challenges of everyday medical work.