宅男导航

宅男导航 has started a program to help international pharmacy students understand Australian language and culture.

宅男导航 School of Pharmacy Project team leader Jacqueline Bond said the program aimed to identify and address cultural and language barrier issues for non-native English speakers early in their studies.

鈥淎ustralian colloquialisms are an example of issues faced by pharmacists,鈥� she said.

鈥淪omeone might tell a pharmacist they have a gut-ache, had a chunder, caught a wog, chucked a sickie, couldn't eat brekkie or got bitten by mozzies.

鈥淭hese sayings can completely bamboozle student pharmacists from non-Australian backgrounds,鈥� Ms Bond said.

鈥淚t's vital that graduates have excellent communication skills when they enter the pharmacy profession, to ensure that medicines are used safely and effectively.鈥�

宅男导航鈥檚 School of Pharmacy and academics in language learning and higher education have created the Skills for Communicating and Relating in Pharmacy Training (SCRIPT) program.

The SCRIPT team received a $5000 Vice-Chancellor鈥檚 Equity and Diversity Award for recognising the challenges facing culturally and linguistically diverse students.

Ms Bond said pharmacy students and graduates needed to have a high standard of discipline-specific and colloquial English to be successful in their studies and ultimately in their profession.

Historically, between 36 and 53 per cent of 宅男导航 pharmacy students have spoken a language other than English at home.

SCRIPT is the result of collaboration between pharmacy academics from the , specialist language teachers from the (ICTE-宅男导航), and higher education experts from the (TEDI).

The program was established in 2008 to better prepare undergraduates for their experiential placements in pharmacies and oral communication assessments, which begin in their first year of study.

Video of the script program can be found .

Media: Jacqueline Bond of the School of Pharmacy, +61 7 3346 1982 or j.bond@pharmacy.uq.edu.au.