aaa Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 Hi everyone, I have been offered an Internal medicine interview at McGill. But I don't speak a word of French. For those of you who have experienced or heard about McGill's clinical sites: How difficult is it to take care of its patient population without speaking French? Specifically, I am thinking about the middle of night situations when access to interpreters/staff is limited. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noncestvrai Posted January 9, 2009 Report Share Posted January 9, 2009 A nurse/other res/med student or somebody will be there to translate if need be. There are residents from Gulf countries without any French skills...and they complete their residencies at McGill. Nevertheless, it can't hurt to take a few lessons before coming to Mtl ;-) and even better, take advantage of the unique cultural experience and learn a new language! noncestvrai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDMD Posted January 9, 2009 Report Share Posted January 9, 2009 Yeah I did a heme elective there with my basic elementary school french. I could get by with a good number of patients, but you inevitably run into trouble using medical lingo with pure francophones. Explaining a dvt without knowing what clot is in french was difficult, and I needed a colleague to translate. However, I never had a problem communicating with staff, using the computers, writing orders, reading charts, reading consults, as this is all in english. The good news is most people are in the same boat, there are a lot of IMG's particularly from the middle east that can't speak a word of it. On top of that there are french lessons. The bad news is the int med program requires you to do time in rural (french speaking) hospitals in your upper years, so you need to learn it quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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