English or Arabic in Healthcare Education: Perspectives of Healthcare Alumni, Students, and Instructors

Figures & data

Table 1 Healthcare Alumni Descriptive Statistics (N = 3,044)

Colleges	Major	Female	Male	Total
College of Medicine	Doctor of Medicine & Surgery	201	391	592
College of Dentistry	Doctor of Oral & Dental Medicine Surgery	140	203	343
College of Pharmacy	Doctor of Pharmacy	116	94	210
	Pharmaceutical Sciences	202	193	395
College of Nursing	Nursing	182	22	204
Applied Medical Sciences	Diagnostic Radiography	142	122	264
	Dental Technology	0	112	112
	Anesthesia Technology	0	13	13
	Emergency Medical Services	9	19	28
	Public Health	114	95	209
	General Nursing	139	0	139
	Physiotherapy	163	139	302
	Medical Laboratory Sciences	112	121	233

Table 2 Healthcare Alumni GPA Mean Based on English Course Grades (N = 3,044)

Grades	GPA Alumni Mean	N	Std. Deviation
A+	4.10	161	0.54
A	3.94	461	0.62
B+	3.72	472	0.64
B	3.62	531	0.65
C+	3.57	482	0.63
D+	3.36	269	0.59
C	3.35	379	0.64
D	3.13	214	0.56
F	2.89	75	0.43

Table 3 Instructors’ Questionnaire Results

Instructors’ Views Regarding Students’ Proficiency in EMI (N = 134)
Q 1: Most of the healthcare students in the undergraduate program understand everything I say in English.
Strongly Yes 21 (15.7%)	Quite Yes 54 (40.3%)	Slightly Yes 34 (25.4%)	Slightly No 6 (4.5%)	Quite No 13 (9.7%)		Strongly No 6 (4.5%)
Q 2: Most of the healthcare students in the undergraduate program can read and understand course material and related textbooks in English.
Strongly Yes 17 (12.7%)	Quite Yes 60 (44.8%)	Slightly Yes 32 (23.9%)	Slightly No 7 (5.2%)	Quite No 14 (10.4%)		Strongly No 4 (3%)
Q 3: Most of the healthcare students in the undergraduate program can read and understand examination instructions in English.
Strongly Yes 25 (18.7%)	Quite Yes 61 (45.5%)	Slightly Yes 28 (20.9%)	Slightly No 10 (7.5%)	Quite No 5 (3.7%)		Strongly No 5 (3.7%)
Q 4: Most of the healthcare students in the undergraduate program can answer examination questions in English.
Strongly Yes 30 (22.4%)	Quite Yes 50 (37.3%)	Slightly Yes 33 (24.6%)	Slightly No 12 (9%)	Quite No 5 (3.7%)		Strongly No 4 (3%)
Q 5: Most of the healthcare students in the undergraduate program can speak English.
Strongly Yes 9 (6.7%)	Quite Yes 29 (21.6%)	Slightly Yes 45 (33.6%)	Slightly No 28 (20.9%)	Quite No 15 (11.2%)		Strongly No 8 (6%)
Q 6: Most of the healthcare students in the undergraduate program can participate in healthcare discussions in English.
Strongly Yes 12 (9%)	Quite Yes 24 (17.9%)	Slightly Yes 32 (23.9%)	Slightly No 31 (23.1%)	Quite No 19 (14.2%)		Strongly No 16 (11.9%)
Q 7: Do you think that the students may fail in healthcare subjects because of their low proficiency in English?
Yes 54 (40.3%)	Maybe 49 (36.6%)				No 31 (23.1%)

Figure 1 Summary of instructors’ views on the EMI policy.

Table 4 Student Participants’ Healthcare Major (N = 358)

Majors	N	%
Medicine and Surgery	126	35.2
Medical Labs	83	23.2
Physiotherapy	65	18.2
Public Health	25	7
Nursing	21	5.9
Radiology	17	4.7
Pharmacy	13	3.6
Dentistry	8	2.2
Total	358	100

Figure 2 Summary of students’ preferred language of instruction.