Spectrum of Finnishes in healthcare work

In today's multilingual healthcare workplaces, employees and patients from diverse linguistic backgrounds must be able to communicate effectively with Finnish as the shared language, even when it is not the strongest language for all parties involved. The shared language, Finnish, is used in many ways: the professional language of doctors differs from that of patients, which in turn varies greatly by region and social group. Furthermore, the language of non-native speakers at different proficiency levels may differ from that of native Finnish speakers.

The research group studies the use of Finnish as a lingua franca in healthcare work communities. Specific areas of interest include speech comprehension and comprehensibility among different language users. The findings of the study will be used in the training of doctors who speak Finnish as a second language and in the development of language practices in healthcare.

Photo: Jonne Renvall / Tampere university

Essential publications:

Pitkänen, Taina (2025). Puheen ymmärtäminen ja ymmärrettävyys suomea toisena kielenä käyttävien lääkäreiden kielitaidon ilmentäjänä. [Speech comprehension and comprehensibility as the reflection of the language proficiency of L2 Finnish doctors]. Doctoral dissertation. Tampere University.

Pitkänen, Taina & Vaattovaara, Johanna (2024). Medical professionals as reflective practitioners: On the language awareness of L2-speaking doctors. Linguistics and Education, 79, 101269.

Pitkänen, Taina & Tervola, Maija (2023). Puheen ymmärrettävyyden jäljillä: Mikä potilaan puheessa on vaikeaa suomea toisena kielenä käyttävälle lääkärille? [Tracing speech comprehensibility: what makes a patient’s speech difficult for a doctor who speaks Finnish as a second language?] Virittäjä, 127(4), 1.

Pitkänen, Taina & Tervola, Maija (2022). Lääkärin vai potilaan taitoa? Suomea toisena kielenä puhuvan lääkärin puheen ymmärrettävyys vastaanottotilanteessa. [Skill by doctor or patient? Comprehensibility of speech of physicians with Finnish as a second language during consultation] Puhe ja kieli, 42(3), 201–222.

Pitkänen, Taina, Tervola, Maija, Toivonen, Merja & Kosunen, Elise (2021). Kielellisen merkityksen välittymisen ongelmia maahanmuuttajalääkärien potilastenteissä. [Problems in the communication of linguistic meaning in clinical skills tests of migrant physicians]. Virittäjä, 125(3).

Tervola, Maija, Vainio, Seppo & Häikiö, Tuomo (2020). Potilassanaston hallinta terveydenhuoltoalalla. Maahanmuuttajataustaisten lääkärien ja asioimistulkkiopiskelijoiden sananmerkityksen tarkkuus. [Knowledge of patient vocabulary in the healthcare sector: accuracy of word meaning among immigrant physicians and community interpreter students] Virittäjä, 124(1).

Tervola, Maija (2019). Maahanmuuttajalääkärien suomen kielen taito ja kielitaitotarpeet : erityisalan kielitaidon näkökulma lääkärin työhön. [Finnish language proficiency and language needs of immigrant physicians: The physicians' work from the perspective of the language for specific purporses]. Doctoral dissertation. Tampere University.

Tervola, Maija (2018). Lääkärin työtilanteiden kielellisen vaativuuden määrittäminen. [Determining the linguistic demand of physician’s work situations] Puhe ja kieli, 38(2), 83–107.

More publications:

https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/persons/maija-tervola/

https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/persons/taina-pitkänen/

Work in the MedMentor project

The researchers of the research group are working on the ESF-funded MedMentor project, which trains doctors in the wellbeing services counties to serve as mentors for non-native Finnish-speaking doctors. The project aims to develop mentoring practices for non-native Finnish-speaking doctors, while also conducting research on the role of language in mentoring.

The goal of the research is to produce knowledge about how language is used in healthcare work communities among members with different proficiency levels in Finnish, as well as between professionals and patients. The research data will be collected in connection with a mentor training program designed for mentors of non-native Finnish-speaking physicians who were educated outside the EU and EEA. The information produced in the study can be used, among other things, to develop mentoring practices and the mentoring skills of supervising physicians.

More info (in Finnish) about the MedMentor-project: https://www.tuni.fi/fi/tau/tutkimus/medmentor-vieraskielisten-laakarien-harjoittelun-ja-ohjauksen-kehittamishanke

Spectrum of Finnishes in healthcare work

Maija Tervola

Taina Pitkänen

Essential publications:

Feel free to contact the researchers!

Work in the MedMentor project

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