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Angie Quintero

Professor Thames

ENC 1102: Composition II

14 February 2021

Synthesis: Communication in Medical Discourse

In a medical discourse, communication between each medical professional is vastly

important for the general care of patients, whether it’s through paper or the electronic

documentation of a patient’s history such as medical case reports and discharge summaries, it’s

crucial that the communication between physicians is clear and concise to ensure the success of

the medical discourse. All of the sources covered in this annotated bibliography speak on the

topic of effective communication in medical discourse, they discuss that for the discourse to

succeed, the members must utilize their genres and lexis appropriately. Nevertheless, the outlier

source is “Discourse Communities and Communities of Practice: Membership, Conflict, and

Diversity” by Ann Johns as it doesn’t acknowledge medical discourse communities, it simply

speaks on professional discourses and does not go fully in-depth. This research considers the

different genres and lexis including medical case reports, discharge summaries, and medical

terminology among others used in a medical discourse by its members to reach their established

common goal which is to provide the best patient care. Additionally, it furthers the important

role genres and lexis play as they allow and promote the means of functional communication

between physicians. One source, in particular, The Rhetoric of Medical Discourse: An Analysis

of the Major Genre by Yanoff, gives insight on the major genres of the medical discourse, for

this research, evaluating the different genres is pivotal to understand how they may or may not

work to facilitate communication among members. Also, the source “Medical Discourse: A
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Glimpse into Communication in a Health Care Environment” by Matthew Ennis differs in the

fact that it identifies medical terminology/lexis as a successful method of communication while

other sources such as “Effective Physician-to-Physician Communication: An Essential Ingredient

for Care Coordination” by Diane Shannon argues otherwise, still, this source is relevant and

critical to my research since I plan on comparing what truly aids the process of facilitating

communication among members that work in a medical setting.

Annotated Bibliography: Communication in Medical Discourse

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Ennis, Matthew. “Medical Discourse: A Glimpse into Communication in a Health Care

Environment.” Sullivan Files, 15 Sep. 2004.

http://sullivanfiles.net/WID/assignments/discourse_field/ennis_discourse.pdf

Ennis uncovers the different discourse practices that are used among health care

professionals. Within the framework of discourse communities, he identifies the different

literacies and genres that facilitate efficient and effective communication among

members of the medical community such as medical terminology, patient history forms,

and telemedicine (email, telephone, or videoconferencing). He identifies these factors to

illuminate the importance of communication among physicians and other health care

professionals to better serve the patient. His primary research methodologies are a blend

of textual analysis and a personal interview with a licensed and practicing E.R. physician,

however, his research is limited by the selected bias of choosing the person to collect data

from, making the data subjective. Further, the research is also limited in the fact that it’s a

single individual instead of multiple physicians which would have allowed Ennis to

compare and possibly conclude differently.

Ennis’ analysis of discourse practices commonly used among health care professionals is

comparable to other works discussed in this annotated bibliography as it relies on the

characteristics of discourse communities specifically on the established genres and

acquired lexis of discourse communities. Individually, it compares to one of my primary

sources, “Learning the Language,” a short story by Perri Klass as it covers the use of

language and texts in medical discourse. Klass also speaks over the specialized lexis used

by physicians to help mediate their activities which is very similar to Ennis’ analysis.

Ennis’ methodology is useful for my research as I also plan to conduct interviews to

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gather information on the use of literacies/genres in the medical discourse community.

Other researchers also interested in analyzing genres and lexis of a particular discourse

community such as a group of lawyers for instance would find Ennis’ analysis useful as it

demonstrates the importance of language and communication to reach their common

goals.

Johns, Ann M. “Discourse Communities and Communities of Practice: Membership, Conflict,

and Diversity” Writing About Writing: A College Reader for the University of Central

Florida, Edited by Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs, 4th Edition, Bedford/St.Martins,

2020, pp. 560-578.

Johns focuses on the different characteristics of discourse communities. She centers her

analysis on the difficulties and conflicts that exist within discourse communities, while

doing so she also considers greatly the genres and lexis of established communities and

how they allow members to maintain their goals, regulate membership and communicate

effectively. She goes into depth with professional communities and mentions the

importance of a base of expertise/knowledge which in most cases leads to an established

language/text in discourse communities and how those characteristics work to facilitate

communication. Her primary research methodologies are a combination of textual

analysis and a personal interview with a bassoonist in her city orchestra, however, her

research is limited by the selected bias of choosing the person to collect data from.

Additionally, she fails to go into depth on how members of discourse communities

communicate amongst each other and most of her research focuses on academic

discourses only.
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Johns’ analysis of discourse communities is similar to other works covered in this

annotated bibliography as it unravels the basic principles of such discourse communities

and the how and why conflicts occur in them. Specifically, it relates to Haran Ratna’s

scholarly article, “The importance of Effective Communication in Healthcare Practice”

seeing as though he also discusses the conflicts that arise as a result of ineffective

communication in medical discourse. Johns’ analysis of professional communities is

particularly useful because I can draw from her ideas to generate my own on the medical

community. Other researchers interested in considering the issues that may come to light

in a discourse community may find Johns’ paper valuable.

Lysanets, Yuliia, et al. “Stylistic Features of Case Reports as a Genre of Medical Discourse.”

Journal of Medical Case Reports, vol. 11, no. 1, Mar. 2017. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1186/s13256-017-1247-x.

The authors of this source establish the lexical and grammatical aspects of constructive

medical case reports. They do so to provide guidelines on how to construct the most

useful and functional medical case reports, which they argue will help facilitate effective

communication amongst medical professionals. The authors realize the importance of

communication amongst doctors in a medical setting and as a result conducted this

research to aid medical workers who will deal with this genre. Their research was

conducted using the method of genre and stylistic analyses of 15 selected case reports

that were published in a journal. The source is limited in the fact that a selected bias

exists as the cases were selected rather than randomly chosen.

Their analysis of case reports correlates to the research I plan to conduct as it explores a

genre of the medical discourse community, further it highlights the importance of having
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effective genres to help facilitate communication. Thus, I can include their insight on

medical case reports in my own research of the medical discourse community. This

source particularly relates to “The Rhetoric of Medical Discourse: An Analysis of Major

Genres” by Karin Yanoff which also speaks on the significance of case reports as a form

of medical communication. Other researchers and even physicians who will deal with the

genre of medical case reports would benefit from the clear guidelines this source offers

on how to format a productive report.

Ratna, Haran. “The Importance of Effective Communication in Healthcare Practice.” Harvard

Public Health Review, vol. 23, 2019, pp. 1–6. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.48546767&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Ratna illustrates the importance of effective communication when delivering healthcare.

He states that individuals with the ability to communicate effectively are better equipped

to make appropriate healthcare decisions and consequently, better their health outcomes-

he speaks over communication between patients and their physicians. However, he also

identifies that that is only effective if the communication amongst physicians is

successful in the first place, essentially, he demonstrates a correlation. Although he

doesn’t discuss genres of discourse communities, he discusses the valuableness of

communication and its ability to produce better health outcomes which is a defining

characteristic that exists within discourse communities. One can compare this since, in a

medical discourse the physicians of the community share the same goal to help their

patients as best as they can, Ratna mentions this slightly but focuses more on the

communication aspect. This source is limited as it fails to include any primary evidence.
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His methodologies are primarily textual analysis of secondary sources that help support

his conclusions.

Ratna’s analysis on the importance of effective communication in health care

environments is similar to other works covered in this annotated bibliography in that it

depends on the principles of discourse communities and the common language used by

members to reach their common goals, such as knowledge of health literacy. It relates to

my research in which I plan to explore the different genres and lexis used by

physicians to effectively communicate amongst each other and how productive it is in

reaching their common goals. Especially, it relates to Matthew Ennis’ scholarly article,

“Medical Discourse: A Glimpse into Communication in a Health Care Environment.”

Ratna’s ideas on effective communication will help me explain its importance in my

paper. Other researchers interested in how communication plays a role in an individual’s

health outcome may find this source useful.

Shannon, Diane. “Effective Physician-to-Physician Communication: An Essential Ingredient for

Care Coordination.” Physician Executive, vol. 38, no. 1, Jan. 2012, pp. 16- 21.

EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=70548724&sit=eds-

live&scope=site.

Shannon presents in her writing the causes of miscommunication amongst physicians

while also providing suggestions on how to avoid and help with the situation. She focuses

on the idea that communication between physicians affects the quality of care and as a

result, Shannon also implies different solutions to foster change within medical discourse.

Her primary research methodologies are a blend of textual analysis and interviews with
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physicians. Moreover, this source is limited in that it has a selected bias as the author

chose the individuals to conduct interviews with.

Shannon’s analysis on the causes of miscommunication relates to other works in this

annotated bibliography as it’s within the terms of discourse communities. Although it

differs from the other sources as it speaks mainly about the defects that members of the

medical discourse community may pursue, this source provides useful information on

what does not make a discourse community successful which is something I plan on

bringing up in my research. At that, other researchers interested in evaluating

communication in a medical setting or in solutions to remedy miscommunication would

profit from Shannon’s ideas and suggestions. Generally, it conveys the same arguments

as “The Importance of Effective Communication in Healthcare Practice,” since they both

articulate the gravity of effective communication between physicians.

Yanoff, Karin Lindblad. The Rhetoric of Medical Discourse: An Analysis of the Major Genres.

Dissertation Abstracts International, vol. 49, no. 10, University of PennsylvaniaProQuest,

Apr. 1989, pp. 355-396. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=mzh&AN=1989075656&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Throughout his study, Yanoff documents the rhetorical features of six major genres in the

medical discourse. He gathers these six, out of the forty identified, and distinguishes them

as the most important after conducting interviews and surveys of the literature on

physicians and U.S medical schools. Yanoff analyses these major genres within the scope

of discourse communities and also emphasizes their context and the purpose they serve

within the discourse community. Yanoff concludes that these genres are crucial to the

growth and success of the medical discourse as they help ease communication amongst
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physicians. Nonetheless, this study is flawed as it’s not fully inclusive, the study only

gathers information from U.S physicians and medical schools, meaning the six genres

identified may not be the same six for individuals located elsewhere.

Yanoff’s evaluation of the six major genres of the medical discourse is comparable to my

research as I also suggest that genres are key to making the discourse successful. This

source specifically connects to “Medical Discourse: A Glimpse into Communication in a

Health Care Environment” by Mathew Ennis as they both scrutinize the genres of

medical discourse. Yanoff’s method of creating surveys is something I can replicate with

my research. Additionally, this study has relevance for medical writing research.