Languages spoken by medical students.
A self-reported survey of 878 medical students in Monash University (excluding students sponsored by overseas governments) showed that 21.4% had a fluent command of a language other than English, and 62.2% had a basic usable knowledge of another language. Only 28.5% of the students reported having neither a fluent nor a usable command of another language. These results suggest a rich resource of skills in community languages other than English among people who will be entering the medical workforce. Positive recommendations are made to develop and use this resource effectively.
D001315:Australia; D003142:Communication; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D013337:Students, Medical