Former Faculty Furthers Field of Medical Language Competency

Melodie Hull, seen above with students in Bangladesh, is a former volunteer instructor with IUBAT and is currently publishing an article regarding the need for language competency in healthcare settings.  Melodie has also been involved in many other written works, amongst them, textbooks that focus on medical English and healthcare terminology.  

In commemoration of Melodie’s achievements, we have invited her to talk about teaching in Bangladesh and her prolific work as an author.

1) What was your role/responsibilities with the Bangladesh Health Project?

I taught several classes, one of which was on disaster nursing.  I used an example of disaster nursing at IUBAT and the adjacent community, wherein the students explored the potential role of nurses, the integration of other professionals at the university, and the logistics of how to work with spontaneous, emergency-response teams (for example, working with engineering students to solve problems such as collapsed buildings, access to water, flooding, etc.).  As a consultant and researcher, I also co-created a 100+ page summary of findings and recommendations for medical and nursing English, and English language education at the university level (and above).

Teaching in an IUBAT classroom.

2) What is your current position/role (i.e. are you a practicing nurse, writing/teaching full time)?

I am a nurse-educator, academic and scholar.  I am full-time nursing faculty in the BSN program at College of the Rockies (in Cranbrook, BC), and part-time nursing faculty with Thompson Rivers University Open Learning (in Kamloops, BC).  I am fairly well-published and have presented at numerous nursing education, nursing, psychiatric/mental health, and medical English conferences worldwide.  I hope to speak at a mental health conference in Europe this year, if I am lucky.  My publications have largely been either nursing articles and textbooks, or in English language/English for specific purposes/medical English journals and textbooks.  I have been cited by others for a number of these topics.

Teaching at English summer school in Chiapas, Mexico.

3) Can you please share more about your publications and your most recent article?

I wrote a textbook published by F A Davis Company, Philadelphia, USA in 2010: Medical English Clear & Simple: a Practice-Based Approach to English for ESL Healthcare Professionals.  This book sold quite well internationally, but less well here in North America.  As a result, like many books of this genre by other experts, this book is no longer in print.

I have another textbook still on the market: Medical Language: Terminology in Context.  This is a new approach to medical terminology, asserting my stance that medical language (which includes medical English) is an advanced subset of language and should be learned in the context of real healthcare situations.  This book is designed for all health and allied health students.

I have been working for years, drawing attention to the need for language competency in the health professions.  My latest article on this topic is currently in press and pending publication for February 2016: Hull, Melodie: Medical language proficiency: A discussion of interprofessional language competencies and potential for patient risk.  International Journal of Nursing Studies. 

Teaching on Route 5 in Cancun, Mexico.

Melodie, thank you for sharing the extensive amount of accomplishments in your career, for which you have gained international recognition for.  The BSN students at IUBAT were lucky to have someone so well-versed in medical language instruct and guide them, and we hope to read many more of your publications in the future.

Caring Governor General’s Award Honours Dr. Karen Lund

Congratulations to Dr. Karen Lund, who was recently chosen to receive the Caring Governor General’s Award, a national honour bestowed upon Canadians who have spent a considerable amount of time towards volunteer efforts and helping others in Canada or abroad.  The Award recognizes the generous and selfless work of its recipients, and commends the compassionate example that is set for others.  Dr. Karen Lund has been involved with the Bangladesh Health Project since 2004, and currently serves as the program’s Visiting Faculty Chair.

Dr. Lund joins Dr. JoAnn Leavey as a fellow Caring Governor General’s Award recipient. You can read about the Caring Governor General’s Award recipient here.

An emphatic thank you to Dr. Karen Lund for your many years of contribution to the BHP; your involvement has undoubtedly influenced the success of the Project in the past, and the influence will continue for years to come.  

The recognition is well-deserved!

Part II: Thank You, তোমাকে ধন্যবাদ, dhonnobaad to our Volunteers Working from Home

Over the past decade, many people have volunteered time and resources to make the Bangladesh Health Project so successful. There were so many generous contributions:

– Many people donated money that was used to pay guest-house expenses for visiting faculty volunteers, for teaching materials, and for expenses such as audits or website fees. – Some people donated money to subsidize poorer students, or for hepatitis immunization so that all the nursing students were protected.  Several people donated used computer equipment, all of which were “tuned up” by Pete Jones of IT Works. – We received regular donations of textbooks from librarians at the College of Registered Nurses of BC and from graduating Canadian students. – Christina Paone of Paone Creative designed and updated our beautiful website, which has been visited thousands of times by people all over the world. – Jen Preston helped manage volunteer applications, Helen Trung maintains the blog, Sara Jackson manages our recognition program for returning faculty and gathers textbooks. – Students and faculty at Vancouver Community College and at University of Vermont raised funds locally before making their site visits to IUBAT. – Irene Clarence, the Executive Director at Mid-Main Clinic, has provided terrific support over the entire period of the BHP.

We are grateful to all these globally-minded colleagues and friends who have helped the project from their own homes and workplaces.

Finally, thank you to our website visitors and our blog readers, who have been steadily gaining in numbers. Our boundless gratitude for your continued interest in the BHP’s progress and for your support. Our humble site and international efforts have attracted visitors from all around the world. Being able to share our stories with interested parties, potential and past volunteers, current/former students and everyone in between is something that we truly value.