WRA 150

1. Medicine
Disciplinary Literacy

2. Reading
• Reading is important to people in the medical field in
many ways:
• Professionals in the Medical field read different
instruments everyday that correspond to their specific
profession.
– Ex: Radiologists need to know how to read x-rays so they
can properly diagnose patients.
• All professionals in the medical field need to know
how to read their patients’ medical histories so they
don’t prescribe medications that may be harmful to
them or that could cause unintended effects when
combined with other medicine they are already taking.

3. Reading
• Outside of the workplace professionals in the
medical field read trade journals and scholarly
articles to keep up with new
studies, discoveries, and research in the field.
– One trade journal, Family Practice News has articles
about three different drugs that had deadly side
effects, which had not been reported before the FDA
approved these drugs. They were put into the journal
so professionals that read the journal could be aware
of the possible side effects and refrain from prescribing
them.

4. Writing
• 1. Be good at discovering blank
– selected topic blank based medicine and
clinical medicine and social medical
study, which is no cause people to pay
attention to the subject
• 2. Added the views of others
– found in the selected topic from others, get
inspiration, based on this understanding, the
new ideas to create new, and make it more
comprehensive, more rich.

5. Writing
• 3. In conflicts for choice
– Choose the focus of the debates in
the academic carrying out the
plan, through the clinical argument
put forward their views and opinions

6. Writing
4. Material preparation
– The audit of the data and statistics processing.
– List and drawing.
– The photos and the choice of typical cases (part of the
clinical diagnosis and treatment technology and
method is introduced to paper).
5. Quoted the sorting of literature.
6. From the start the results of the
experiment, abstracting viewpoint.
7. The necessary supplement the experiment.
8. Clear view and a conclusion.

7. Writing
9. Draw up an outline
– by the topic, the authors usually, abstract, key
words, the introduction, the methods and materials,
the results, the discussion, and references and parts.
10.Drafts
– For the professional term paper, should not be
commonly use abbreviation.
11.Submission and revision
– The editorial department by integrating expert and
edit the opinion, to name the editorial department
to the author puts forward Suggestions and
requirements

8. Speaking
• There is a different form of jargon that is
spoken around the hospital, office, or any
medical facility.
– Communicating with patients
– Communicating with coworkers and other
physicians

9. Speaking with Patients
• The only way patients inform the physician on his or
her specific illness is by word of mouth. This involves a
short detailed description of a fault in physiology and
the location of the fault.
• As a physician, it is his or her job to question the
patient on any specific medical history or illness that
may interrupt the procedure needed to be done
• Without this form of jargon, which mainly includes
question and answering, there is no way for the
physician to truly understand what is troubling the
patient

10. Speaking with Coworkers
• Speaking with coworkers involves a jargon
obtained through multiple years of medical
school
• If emergencies were to ever occur at a
hospital, which is highly common in the ER, a
physician needs to communicate with his
coworkers in such a way that immediate action
be taken. This jargon must be set up and
practiced for the specific procedure to be
completed as soon as possible

11. Technology
• There are many different devices most medical
professionals must use
• Devices help with:
– Diagnosis and treatment
– Research
– Learning about medicine
• Examine:
– What the devices are like, what they can do
– Learning to use these devices
– Why this literacy is necessary

12. Technology
• CT Scanner
– Creates detailed 3-D movies of entire organs in
real time.
– Fast and accurate diagnoses in emergencies like
strokes and heart attacks, offering patients the
best treatment options.

13. CT Scanner

14. Technology
• MRI Scanner
– Uses powerful
magnets to make
2D images of
internal organs
– Can prevent
unnecessary
surgeries

15. Technology
• Defibrillator
– used to control the heart-beating by application of
an electric current to the chest wall or heart.
– Can prevent or delay heart failure

16. Technology
• X-ray scanner
– X-rays pass through
tissue, producing 2-D
images contrasting bones
and tissues
– Many uses, like setting
broken bones

17. Technology
• Vital Machines
– Measure blood
pressure, pulse, temperature, oxygen saturation
– Help with diagnosis and prescription

18. Technology
• Intravenous Therapy (IV)
– Slow, continuous treatment by
moving liquid drugs, nutrients, or
other materials into the veins of
a patient
– Many uses, such as nourishing
unconscious patients

19. Technology
• Undergraduate:
– Bachelors degree is pretty much anything you
want as long as you also take classes that will give
you the info you need to pass the MCATS
• MCATS
– Test you need to take to be eligible to apply to
medical school.

20. Technology, Medical School
• First and Second Year
– Basic sciences are taught to give the student a good understanding of the
body, how it works, and diseases they may encounter as a doctor.
• Third Year
– Begin rotations, introduces expectations of the medical field
– Rotations can include internal medicine, OB/GYN, and psychiatry.
– Learn to use some equipment in your rotation
– Narrow down what type of doctor you want to be
• Fourth Year
– Specialization, complete rotation close to field of interest, get used to
different technologies in the field as preparation for medical practice
– Interact with patients, complete basic medical procedures.
– Know how to use the technology you will be using the procedure.
• Board Exams
– Taken in last year of medical school to become certified

21. Technology, Residency
• By this time you will have decided on a specialization and you will basically
shadow a doctor who has been in the field for a while and perfect your
skills so you feel comfortable doing it by yourself.
• A residency usually last three to seven years depending on your
specialization.
• This is really where all of your knowledge comes together. This is where
you perfect what you will be doing for the rest of your life.
• Medicine is like a “trade” in the sense that you learn how to use the
technology and learn special techniques from your colleagues.
• The more and more you specialize the more and more technologies you
will learn and become proficient in. Just like surgeons probably have a
different and more specialized set of technology skills than a radiologist.

22. Technology
• Conclusion
– Literacy in technology is paramount for those
going into the medical field
– It is required to diagnose, treat, and provide care
to patients in any setting
– Learning to use technology in the medical field
usually begins around the third year of medical
school by taking classes and participating in
rotations

23. Interpersonal Communication Skills
The process by which the professionals in the medical field relate and interact
with:
- Patients
- Colleagues
- Fellow staff members
- Administration/management
As well as being able to report research findings/presentations and evidence in
court, and talking to media.
Interpersonal communication skills based on three pillars, which are:
1) Accuracy: how accurate the data/information given by the particular
professional is towards the patients/fellow professional.
2) Efficiency: how well the information is conveyed and understood
3) Supportiveness: how the professional uses medical facts and tests to support
their ideas towards the patient/fellow professional.

24. Interpersonal Communication With Patients
Medical professionals try to create a strong relationship with their patients that is built on
honesty, confidentiality, trust, and respect by various communication principles:
- Ensure good interaction rather than direct transmission of information
- Reduce uncertainty
- Show empathy and how to handle emotional outbreak
- Increase patient satisfaction
- Increase patient understanding of his illness and management
- Improve patient compliance with the management
To do this, various techniques are used to ensure the professionals’ care for the patients well
being and concerns:
- Good eye contact
- Good personal attitude
- Hand gesture/body language
- Start with open ended questions
- Allow time to patient and do not interrupt
- Ask direct questions
- Do not use medical terms, use simple terms
- Exchange information
The medical professional must have relational versatility, ability of the physician to match her
interpersonal approach to the communication and relationship needs of different patients, to be
who and what the patient needs.

25. Interpersonal Communication with Other Professionals
Medical professionals try to create a relationship with fellow professionals based on
mutual respect and trust.
Unlike the relationship with the patient, the main goal of the interaction between
professionals is for the common good of the patients, which must be based on an
academic and work basis. This is accomplished by:
- Exchanging information and options on various topics; must be based on an
understanding on both sides in order to solve problems at hand. Both sides must
be open to opposing ideas, as well as, curiosity to advance those ideas and
willingness to work together towards a common goal.
- Through consultations
- Do your share part of work: collaboration between various professionals (E.g.
Nurses and doctors)
- Attendance of seminars, conferences and meetings to address new
technology, innovations, and problems the professionals are facing.

26. Conclusion
Medical Field Process:
1: Preparing for the Field
2: Working in the Field
3: Literacy Process
4:Cultural Artifacts

27. Preparing for the Field
• Seek Information
– Professors, advisors, books, online, classes, etc.
• Get Experience
– Literacy emersion, communication, labs, TA’s,
rotations.
• Academic work—being competitive
– GPA, MCAT, contact professors, extracurricular
activities
• Use Medical Literacy for a Revisionary Purpose
– Read—understand—connect—apply—observe—improve

28. Working in the Field
• Use Cultural Artifacts
– Medical technology
– Communication interfaces
– Read—journals, books, etc.
• Produce Cultural Artifacts
– Be innovative with technology
– Write: publish studies, patient records
– Speak: with colleagues, the media, students, etc.
– Interpersonal: Collaborate, help out, be amenable

29. Medicine
Disciplinary Literacy