USE OF ENGLISH SPECIFIC INFORMATION SOURCES IN EDUCATIONAL PROCESS AS A CONDITION FOR IMPROVING OF FUTURE DENTISTS’ PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE

Abstract

The need for close cooperation between different countries grows every year and necessitates the training of specialists who are fluent in languages of international communication, primarily in English, and use them in their professional activities. Today, it is difficult to imagine a competitive medical specialist who does not use knowledge of the English language in his/her activity to effectively establish professional contacts and obtain the latest information.
 The purpose of the article is to determine the possibilities of improving the quality of professional training of future dentists due to the improvement of foreign language communicative competence through the use of English-language professional information sources in educational process at clinical departments.
 Materials and methods. A search and study of publications on the specified issue was conducted in library sources and search engines.
 Research results. The change in requirements for modern student of higher medical educational institution, caused by the need to enter the world and European educational and scientific space, makes it necessary for future doctors to master the English language at a professional level. Proficiency in English gives future dentists direct access to professional literature, periodicals, websites, etc. Having a sufficient level of language skills, they will be able to expand their horizons of professional growth by attending international conferences, seminars, trainings, exhibitions, getting acquainted with the experience of leading scientists and practitioners.
 Based on this, it should be noted that turning to English-language professional sources in the training of future dentists should not be limited by professional English classes, but their use should become a necessary element of educational process at clinical departments. At the departments of Poltava State Medical University’s Stomatological Faculty the practice of including English-language publications in the lists of recommended literature, listening to reports at practical classes, and the results of individual tasks prepared in English based on the study of original scientific literature has already become a common practice. Nevertheless, the educational process at clinical departments needs more active implementation of such types of educational activities as finding and analyzing new textual, graphic and video information contained in professional materials in English. The work of student scientific groups should provide especially wide opportunities for this.
 Thus, it can be concluded that the use of the English-language professional literature, publications in periodicals, and Internet resources in educational process of future dentists should become an additional factor in students’ effective acquisition and assimilation of knowledge needed in future professional activities.