Clear English Pronunciation Strategies for Doctors & Medical Professionals

For many overseas-trained doctors and nurses, mispronouncing medical terms can create barriers to effective communication with colleagues and patients. This can lead to misunderstandings and, in some cases, affect their confidence and even their careers. While complex medical terms can be tricky for native English speakers, the challenge is heightened for those who speak English as a second language. The intricacies of pronunciation, especially with words that don’t match their spelling, add an extra layer of complexity. Let’s dive into why these complex terms can be so difficult to pronounce and how it impacts medical professionals today.

Medical terms often contain many syllables, making them tricky to pronounce – especially for non-experts, and even more so when English is not their first language. Take words like gastroenteritis, for example, which has six syllables and requires careful articulation!

Compound words: Many medical terms are made up of roots, prefixes, and suffixes, which adds precision and makes pronunciation more complicated. Longer, compounded words like cardiomyopathy needs to be articulated carefully to ensure clarity

Medical terms often feature unusual letter combinations that don’t follow standard pronunciation rules. For instance, the “ph” in pharmacology is pronounced as /f/, and “psy” in psychology is pronounced as /s/. These unfamiliar letter clusters can easily confuse anyone unfamiliar with them.

Medical terminology frequently draws on Latin or Greek roots, which contain sounds that may not exist in a speaker’s first language. For example, the “ch” in cholecystitis is pronounced like a /k/, which can be confusing even for a native English speakers to grasp because the “ch” spelling typically makes the /⁠tʃ⁠/ sound in English. While Latin and Greek are mostly considered as “dead” languages, their phonetic rules remain alive in medical terms which many English speakers are not accustomed to.

Silent Letters: Many medical terms have silent letters like the “p” in pneumonia, which can be especially confusing for those encountering the word for the first time.

Medical terms often have shifting stress patterns depending on their components (prefix, root, suffix). For example, in dermatology, the stress is on the second syllable, while in dermatitis, it shifts to the third. These variations can be particularly tricky for doctors and healthcare professionals whose first language has more consistent stress patterns.

Mispronunciations, particularly when diagnosing conditions or prescribing medications, undermine these crucial aims. For example, a mispronounced medication could lead to a “wrong drug” error, where a patient receives an incorrect treatment due to similar-sounding or similar-looking drug names. A study shows that up to 25% of medication errors occur this way, creating severe risks for patients and increasing the likelihood of malpractice claims (Cheesman et al., 2022). Such errors not only jeopardise patient health but also breach the duty of care expected from healthcare professionals, highlighting the profound impact of clear communication in safeguarding patient outcomes.

Living in 2025 means getting connected to the world has become much easier, making migration a common choice for many who are seeking better opportunities in life or their careers. This includes international doctors who want to bring their skills and expertise to English-speaking countries. According to Gu and Shah (2019), about one-third of doctors working in Australia were in fact, trained overseas. However, accents and dialects can often lead to misconceptions about a doctor’s clinical abilities, affecting both their communication with colleagues and patients. This can result in lower quality care, diminished trust, and a feeling of marginalisation, ultimately leading to job dissatisfaction and lack of confidence. To learn more about this issue, check out our Position Statement on Racism.

At SPEECHAUS, we strongly advocate for the value of all accents and firmly believe that knowing more than one language is a strength. However, we understand that constant feedback from patients and colleagues about our accents can sometimes be discouraging. That’s why we offer online pronunciation clarification programs that are accessible worldwide, catering to busy medical professionals with tight schedules, who might need flexible options. Our English Pronunciation Audit is a great starting point to identify areas for improvement. While SPEECHAUS brings a unique Australian flair to the table, we are also able to target pronunciation preferences for British, American, or other English accents. With our advocacy-based approach, we focus on building speaking confidence in English, and empowering professionals to communicate effectively and with ease.

• Committee on Diagnostic Error in Health Care; Board on Health Care Services; Institute of Medicine; The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Balogh EP, Miller BT, Ball JR, editors. Improving Diagnosis in Health Care. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2015 Dec 29. 3, Overview of Diagnostic Error in Health Care. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK338594/
• Cheesman, M.J., Do, D., Alcorn, S., Grant, G.D., & Cardell, E.M. (2022). Impact of the “DrugSpeak” programme on drug name pronunciation skills and perceptions in a pharmacy student cohort. Pharmacy Education.
• Gu, Y., & Shah, A. P. (2019). A Systematic Review of Interventions to Address Accent-Related Communication Problems in Healthcare. Ochsner journal, 19(4), 378–396. https://doi.org/10.31486/toj.19.0028