Abstract
Background: Medical English has been enjoying a good deal of popularity among doctors and medical students having an extraordinary effect on their competencies .This article proposes the use of a competency-based approach in a Blended-Learning English for Medical Purposes (EMP) course design for the students of medicine. The objectives of the study were to investigate the medical English needs of the students of medicine, to develop a Blended-Learning competency-based EMP course module for the students of medicine, and to examine the opinions of students toward the course module.
 Method& Materials: The study was a descriptive and experimental research. The course was taught using Drupal Platform and Web 2.0 tools as supplement to traditional face-to-face classroom. EMP needs were analyzed by interviewing 45 key students and a questionnaire survey with 140 students of medicine. The qualitative data from the interview were analyzed by content analysis while the quantitative data from the questionnaire survey were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean, percentage, and standard deviation). For course evaluation, the pretest and posttest score were analyzed by comparing the mean scores of the pretest and posttest using t-test. 
 Findings: The Blended Learning course module was validated by the experts and piloted with a group of learners having the similar characteristics as the subjects in the main study. The results of t = -15.09 indicated that the participants in the study had higher scores in their posttest than in the pretest at a significant level (p< .05). The standard deviation of all criteria (SD <1) shows that the consistency of the students opinions responses did not vary much. 
 Conclusion: Blended-Learning competency-based English course module can meet the needs of the students of medicine in terms of the EMP course which has conceptualized the content around the competencies needed for their studies.
Highlights
The students of medicine should be able to communicate with excellent listening and problem solving skills, to understand and to deal with situations equipped with a high level of knowledge, strong communicative skills, autonomy, flexibility and dedication [1]
The Blended Learning course module was validated by the experts and piloted with a group of learners having the similar characteristics as the subjects in the main study
The results reported 8 tentative lists of need duties/tasks of students of medicine which were matched among the three key informant groups
Summary
The students of medicine should be able to communicate with excellent listening and problem solving skills, to understand and to deal with situations equipped with a high level of knowledge, strong communicative skills, autonomy, flexibility and dedication [1]. A good command of English language will enable them to communicate with their counterparts around the world better on work-related issues [1]. This concept supports the ESP vision which requires the students to have knowledge of standard phrases and emphasize English as a common working language. From the interviews with some faculty members graduated from English speaking countries and participating it is found that there should be specific English courses provided that is designed to meet the particular medical English language needs of the students of medicine in a blended manner. To better serve the needs of EMP use of students a more specially designed English course module should be developed to enhance their medical English proficiency. This research study aims to firstly, investigate the EMP needs of the students, to develop a competencybased English blended course module for them, and, lastly, to examine the opinions of the learners toward the course module
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