To students who are planning to enter the Faculty of Medicine in 2013.

Dear prospective students,

It is my pleasure to welcome you in advance to the Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya. To make your stay more fruitful and less demanding one of the most important things that you should possess is a good knowledge in English. I am sure all of you know that the medical course is conducted totally in English. Therefore, a good knowledge in English will help you to continue the academic course smoothly and free of stress.

In addition to the academic course being conducted in English you will also be assessed in English at various points in your course. You will begin your academic career here with an Intensive English course and you will be first assessed at the end of that course. Once you commence your academic course you will have an ongoing course in English during the first and second semesters of the first year. You will be tested at the end of each semester and you have to pass both examinations to be eligible to enter the third year of the medical degree. Therefore an adequate knowledge in English is imperative for you to be successful in your academic career.
The minimum level of English that is required for a medical student is equivalent to the IELTS (International English Language testing System) band 5 or UTEL (University test of English Language) band 5. If you are at this band level you should be able to:

In Reading: Understand moderately complex texts which use a variety of organizational patterns such as cause/effect, compare/contrast, problem solution, classification or diagrammatical information and differentiate main ideas from supporting details in such texts.

In Listening: Differentiate between main and supporting ideas and understand extended spoken discourse such as a lecture or dialogue and also respond to questions according to various task formats (e.g. true/false, circle the correct answer etc.)
In Speech: Express opinion on a familiar topic with a reasonable degree of fluency and accuracy. Make a short speech on a general topic.

In Writing: Write simple and compound sentences, construct a coherent paragraph on familiar/personal topics, join three – five paragraphs into a simple essay on a particular topic, write a paragraph to relate/explain information in a simple table, graph, flow chart or diagram, complete the above tasks with an average degree of accuracy.
If you do not have the given competencies it would be advisable to attend English classes or use the web to improve your language before coming here. Some sites you can use are given below.

www.youtube.com
www.tedtalks.com
www.nextvista.org/collection/light-bulbs/careers
www.englishmed.com/nurses
www.englishmed.com/doctors
www.englishmed.com/pharmacists
http://www.hospitalenglish.com
www.englishclub.com/english-for-work/medical
http://www.youtube.com/watch

In addition to that you can read newspapers and novels, watch English programs on TV and any other fun activity that would help you to learn English.
We hope to see you soon.

Prof MD Lamawansa MBBS (Ruhuna), MS (University of Colombo), PhD (University of Western Australia), FRCS (Edin), FCSSL (Sri Lanka),
Dean
Faculty of Medicine
4.11.2013