English proficiency level in colombian undergraduate students of medical programs

Abstract

Introduction: The government intends to position Colombia as a health and welfare tourism destination. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to increase the levels of English proficiency in health professionals, which is in line with the goal set by the Colombian Ministry of National Education for 2014: 20% of medical graduates should score at intermediate or advanced English proficiency levels. Objectives: To determine if the bilingualism goal set for 2014 was achieved by students of undergraduate medical programs in Colombia. Materials and methods: Descriptive and statistical approach (parametric and nonparametric tests) based on data from the Saber Pro test (2011-2015) for medical programs offered in universities of academic nature. Results: The overall percentage of students who met the goal countrywide (28.6%) was satisfactory; however, only 16 medical programs out of 43 (37.2%) achieved the goal. Conclusions: In general, the English proficiency level of potential medical graduates is aligned with the government’s goal. However, there is much to be improved considering that about 70% of future medical graduates do not have an intermediate or advanced level in this skill.