Successful Healthcare Communication Forum

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 05: The Occupational English Test (OET), the English language test for healthcare professionals, held a successful first-ever ‘Healthcare Communication Forum’ in Kochi, India recently.

Sujata Stead, OET’s Indian-born CEO provided an update on the organisation’s immense growth over the past 18 months, particularly in India, where candidature has been increasing every year.

Dr Clive Fernandes, Consultant, Joint Commission International (JCI), delivered the keynote address on “The importance of employee communication skills in hospital accreditation”. He emphasized on the critical importance of communication stressing on studies which shows that poor or missing communication between providers and patients can lead to patient’s harm or even death.

Prof. Dr A. Zameer Pasha, Founder and Chairman of the Hospital Board of India, IMA, and Major General Elizabeth John, Former Additional Director General of the Indian Military Nursing Services spoke on “Healthcare in India – opportunities and challenges in enabling language skills”.

David Wiltshire, Education Manager, OET, spoke on the rationale behind the recent updates to the OET test, saying how the test has kept abreast of changes in the healthcare industry and remains a relevant and reliable assessment of the language proficiency of healthcare professionals.

Two panel discussions took place, each featuring distinguished speakers from some of India’s most prestigious hospitals and higher education institutes. The first panel discussed global opportunities for Indian healthcare professionals while the second explored the future of communication in healthcare.

OET is designed to meet the specific English language needs of the healthcare sector. It assesses the language proficiency of healthcare professionals who wish to register and practice in an English-speaking environment.