Construction of integrated curriculum for medical English based on questionnaire surveys

Construction of integrated curriculum for medical English based on questionnaire surveys | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Construction of integrated curriculum for medical English based on questionnaire surveys Changyou Wang This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8667925/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 11 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in BMC Medical Education → Version 1 posted 18 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background “Integrated” curriculum is conducive to accelerating the process of talent cultivation，and scholars at home and abroad have done extensive research on this topic. However, current studies are limited to the integration of professional courses, while there is insufficient research on the integration of public courses. Medical English, as the universal language for global medical communication, has always been highly valued in medical schools both in English and non English speaking countries. So it is necessary to discuss the construction of its integration as a public course. Methods In order to understand the curriculum design of medical English, 3 questionnaires were conducted among postgraduates and their supervisors from at least 23 medical schools in China around the summer of 2025. The questionnaires were distributed and collected by Questionnaire Star (a commonly used questionnaire tool in China). And the subjective and objective questions of the questionnaires were processed by Questionnaire Star and Deepseek (a language model in China) , respectively. Results Through the questionnaires, it is found that firstly, the current courses of medical English lack coherence (71.67%), and the courses contents are highly repetitive (73.93%). Secondly, there is a high demand for integrated teaching of medical English (94.91% on average for teachers, 92.21% for postgraduates). Finally, based on the different needs of teachers and students for the types of undergraduate, master’s and doctoral courses, an integrated medical English curriculum for them was constructed from both vertical (teaching semester, teaching hours and course attributes) and horizontal (teaching methods and teaching contents) perspectives. Conclusion The integrated curriculum of medical English based on questionnaires can not only overcome various drawbacks of current medical English courses, but also effectively promote the cultivation of international medical talents, which will have high reference value for the curriculum design of medical English in other medical schools. Questionnaire survey Medical English Integrated curriculum Construction model Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Introduction The “integrated” curriculum is an effective path to accelerate talent cultivation. As for the concept of “integration”, some people claim that it could be consecutive studies from bachelor’s to master’s, from master’s to doctoral degree, or a consecutive study from bachelor’s to master’s to doctoral degree [ 1 ], while others argue‌ that it is a natural connection between undergraduate, master’s and doctoral training programs [2]. Here, it refers to the latter. To optimize talent cultivation, scholars in the field have conducted research on the integrated teaching of undergraduate, master’s and doctoral programs in recent years. In developed countries, talent cultivation under integrated curriculum has almost become a universal model and has been widely recognized and referenced internationally [ 3 ]. On the basis of drawing on foreign experience, more and more universities in China have attached importance to the integrated curriculum design for undergraduate, master’s and doctoral programs. Due to the long study length of medical major, the integrated talent cultivation in China first began in medical schools [ 4 ] and later this talent cultivation model was extended to other majors. As can be seen from the above, domestic and foreign research mostly focuses on the integrated talent cultivation of professional courses. Medical English, as a universal language for global medical communication and a tool for tracking medical development trends, has always been highly valued by medical schools in both English speaking and non English speaking countries. As far as its construction of medical English curriculum as a public course is concerned, foreign countries often focus on the design of teaching contents. For instance, countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia generally offer courses related to medical English lexicology and medical English writing ( case reports, prescriptions, diagnostic certificates, and research papers) [ 5 ]. Tokyo Medical University mainly offers courses on medical English vocabulary, medical conversation, reading and writing, etc. [ 6 ]. Domestic research has focused more on teacher’ training and teaching models. For example, Jiang Li [ 7 ] and Wang Changyou [ 8 ] propose teacher’ training through the construction of a teacher community consisting of “language teachers + medical teachers”, Cui Xiaoping [ 9 ] and Cao Xiuping [ 10 ] suggest a teaching model based on the characteristics of medical colleges and universities, namely “general English + medical English”. However, there has been little research on the construction of integrated medical English curriculum. Most related studies are limited to a single educational stage (either undergraduate or master’s program), which leads to problems such as lack of coherence in the curriculum design, repetitive teaching content, and low teaching efficiency during the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral stages. To optimize the quality of medical talent cultivation, this study aims to discuss the construction of integrated curriculum based on questionnaires, in order to meet the needs of medical schools for the curriculum design and serve the “Healthy China” strategy. Methods 1. Participants The participants of the questionnaire surveys included medical postgraduates and their supervisors. The former consisted of 886 third-year graduate students from at least 23 medical universities in China, such as Shandong First Medical University, Anhui Medical University, Harbin Medical University, Hainan Medical University, Xinjiang Medical University, Guangxi Medical University and Guizhou Medical University. The latter was composed of 103 graduate supervisors from Yanbian University (30 from the Basic Medical College and 73 from the Clinical Medical College). 2.Procedures In response to the requirements of integrated teaching as stipulated in Guidelines on Accelerating the ‘Double First-Class’ Construction in Higher Education Institutions [ 11 ], Opinions on Accelerating the Reform and Development of Graduate Education in the New Era [ 12 ], and Opinions on Pilot Reform of Basic Discipline Enrollment in Some Universities [ 13 ] , as well as based on the theory of “Spiral curriculum” [ 14 ] and concepts of modular teaching, need analysis and ESP teaching, around the summer of 2025, firstly, questionnaires were designed for the above-mentioned basic supervisors, clinical supervisors and postgraduates respectively (35 questions each for basic and clinical teachers, and 31 questions for postgraduates). Secondly, Questionnaire Star [ 15 ] which is a common questionnaire tool in China, was used to distribute and collect the questionnaires. Finally, Questionnaire Star was used to process the objective questions in the questionnaire, while Deepseek (a Chinese language model) was used to handle the subjective questions respectively. A total of 886 valid responses from postgraduates, 30 from basic supervisors, and 73 from clinical supervisors were collected. 3.Ethical considerations This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Yanbian University of Medical Sciences (Ethics code: YC 212025). To ensure voluntary participation, the participants of the questionnaires were informed that their involvement was entirely optional. All participants completed the surveys anonymously and no names were recorded. Results 1. Objective questions 1.1 Current basic situation of medical English teaching On the necessity of offering medical English courses As can be seen from Figures 1, more than 80% of the teachers and students claim that it is “necessary” to offer medical English courses for medical undergraduates. From the Figure 2, it can be seen that about 90% of the teachers and students think that it is “necessary” to offer medical English courses for postgraduates. Figure 1 and Figure 2 indicate the great demand for medical English in medical schools. On actual proportion of medical English courses offered From Figure 3, it is clear that over 70% of the postgraduates answer that they studied medical English courses during their undergraduate stage, while over 80% of them studied such courses during their postgraduate stage. This indicates that the higher the academic level, the higher the proportion of such courses offered. On connection and repetition of medical English courses From Figure 4, it shows that more than 70% of postgraduates believe that the current medical English courses at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral stages are poorly connected and have repetitive content, which means the course design should be coordinated . 1.2 Demand for integrated curriculum Overall demand for integrated curriculum The demand for integrated curriculum in medical English is as follows: Figure 5: The demand of 886 postgraduates from more than 23 medical schools in China Figure 5 illustrates that over 90% of the postgraduates have a high demand for integrated courses. Figure 6 shows that more than 90% of the basic supervisors also have a high demand for integrated courses. Figure 7 illustrates that over 90% of the clinical supervisors also have a high demand for integrated courses. From the above questionnaire results, it can be seen that the integrated teaching of medical English enjoys a high level of support rate: 71.11% of postgraduates and 73.27% of their supervisors (76.67% for basic and 69.87% for clinical) respectively consider it “completely necessary” or “very necessary”. Approximately 21% of the teachers and students (21.11% for postgraduates and 21.65% for supervisors on average) consider it “generally necessary”. While the proportion of those who hold the view of “not necessary” is relatively low (7.79% for postgraduates and 5.09% for teachers on average). Thus, it indicates that both teachers and students have a high demand for integrated teaching of medical English. Types of demand for integrated curriculum Based on the questionnaires, the types of courses required by teachers and students (on average) are as follows (Table 1, 2, 3). Table 1: Types of courses required for undergraduate studies Course Proportion 1 Medical vocabulary/terminology 42.64% 2 Medical popular science reading 25.97% 3 Medical humanities 19.57% 4 English academic writing 11.56% 5 Other courses 0.26% As shown in Table 1, the top three popular courses for undergraduates are medical vocabulary, medical popular science reading and medical humanities. Table 2: Types of courses required for master’s students Course Proportion 1 Medical literature reading 38.67% 2 Medical writing 36.95% 3 Medical conversation 13.20% 4 Medical translation 11.06% 5 Other courses 0.11% From Table 2, it shows that medical literature reading, medical writing and medical conversation are the top three popular courses for master’s students. Table 3: Types of courses required for doctoral students Course Proportion 1 SCI writing 38.20% 2 International conference simulation 35.16% 3 Medical conversation 19.20% 4 Medical translation 7.45% From Table 3, SCI writing and international conference simulation are the first two popular courses for doctoral students. Considering the teaching length of college English at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral programs, if only 3, 3 and 2 courses are selected respectively for each program in descending order, they are medical vocabulary/terminology, medical popular science reading and medical humanities for undergraduate programs, medical literature reading, medical writing and medical conversation for master’s program, and SCI writing and international conference simulation for doctoral program. 2. Subjective questions Through Deepseek statistics, it was found that in the open-ended questions, approximately 69% of the respondents approved of the integrated teaching of medical English for undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students. Although this result was lower than that of the objective questions (approximately 94%), it still indicates a high level of recognition by teachers and students for the integrated teaching. In addition, the subjective questions also revealed that teachers and students had high expectations for subject-centered medical English teaching for postgraduates (about 75%) and fixed faculty engaged in medical English teaching (about 73%), which provides new ideas for future teaching. Discussion Based on the above demands for integrated curriculum, the basic framework is outlined as follows. 1. Course construction based on demand 1.1 Vertical construction: teaching semester, teaching hours and course attributes For undergraduates, the ideal time to offer medical English curriculum will be around the 5th semester, as by this time students can complete most of the medical professional courses, which make them easier to learn medical English. However, in the higher grades, with the increase of professional courses, students are unable to pay attention to medical English courses unless they are offered as compulsory forms. Given that 55.74% of medical teachers advocate gradually offering medical English courses from the 1st to the 4th semester, the timing of medical English courses should be earlier than the original plan, such as medical humanities in the 2nd semester (elective course), medical vocabulary in the 3rd semester (compulsory course), and medical popular science reading in the 4th semester (compulsory course), which will gradually promote the development of medical English teaching. For master’s students, since the vast majority of teachers and students agree to start medical courses in the first two semesters, medical literature reading (compulsory course) and medical English conversation (elective course) can be offered in the 1st semester, and medical writing (elective course) can be offered in the 2nd semester. Given the different needs for cultivating academic talents (academic masters) and applied talents (professional masters), the courses for masters will have different focuses which 65.23% of supervisors also hold the same view. For example, in medical English conversation, professional masters focus on conversations with a hospital background (EOP), while academic masters focus on academic exchanges (EAP). Another example is medical writing, where professional masters focus on medical practical writing (EOP), while academic masters focus on thesis writing (EAP). For doctoral students, the course schedule for medical English is the same as that for master’s students, with SCI writing as a compulsory course in the 1st semester and academic conference simulation as a elective course in the 2nd semester. Based on the above questionnaires, the medical English courses for undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students can have flexible class hours ranging from 32 to 48 periods. The vertical construction is shown in Table 4 . Table 4 Vertical Construction Serial Number Educational Level Course Module Teaching Semester Teaching Hours Course Attribute 1 Undergraduate (elementary level) Medical humanities 2 32 elective Medical vocabulary/terminology 3 32–48 compulsory Medical popular science reading 4 32 compulsory 2 Master's student (intermediate level) Medical literature reading 1 32–48 compulsory Medical conversation (EOP/EAP) 1 32 elective Medical writing(EOP/EAP) 2 32 elective 3 Doctoral student (advanced level) SCI writing 1 32 compulsory International conference simulation 2 32 elective The above vertical construction not only reflects the connection and progression between medical English courses, but also embodies the combination of elective and compulsory, vocational (EOP) and academic (EAP), which meets the requirements of the “ Guidelines for College English Teaching ” (2020 Edition). 1.2 Horizontal construction: teaching methods and teaching contents Firstly, the cooperation of teaching methods Collaboration can be divided into two categories. The first is domestic interdisciplinary/college cooperation. Medical English teaching requires mastery of both language and professional knowledge. Due to the limitations of the knowledge, currently neither medical teachers nor English teachers can independently undertake the teaching tasks of medical English. Given that 60.00% of basic teachers and 64.38% of clinical teachers have a willingness for “cooperative teaching”, it is advocated that school can take the lead in forming an official cooperative teaching team composed of medical teachers and English teachers to jointly discuss the curriculum design of medical English. The second is cross-border cooperation with foreign counterparts. In the context of the internationalization of higher education, by integrating domestic and international academic resources to establish a joint mentor system, it is possible to expand students’ academic horizons and enhance their research abilities. Research has shown that the average number of published papers per postgraduate under the guidance of dual supervisors is higher than that under single supervisor [ 16 ]. Therefore, conditions should be actively created to carry out cross-border cooperation. Secondly, the internationalization of teaching contents Under the influence of internationalization in higher education, the course contents at all educational levels should be in line with international standards. During undergraduate stage, students can use international platforms to learn medical knowledge, such as mastering core medical vocabulary through Complete Anatomy [ 17 ] and the International Classification of Diseases [ 18 ], studying medical ethics/medical humanities through edX [ 19 ], reading medical popular science materials from Mayoclinic [ 20 ]. During the postgraduate stage, students should make greater use of international platforms to enhance their knowledge, such as grasping the internationally recognized writing standards for academic papers by reading literature materials from core academic databases such as PubMed [ 21 ], Scopus, ResearchGate and Web of Science, practising extraction of core viewpoints and paper writing through Scholary [ 22 ] and Overleaf [ 23 ], participating in medical English conversations and international academic conferences from Oxford Medical Simulation [ 24 ], Zoom Events & Webinars [ 25 ], or LinkedIn [ 26 ]. To keep up with the latest knowledge, the course content at each educational stage should be updated promptly so that it can be transformed into teaching resources. 1.3 Correlation of “vertical- horizontal” construction Based on the above description, the correlation between the two dimensions is shown in Fig. 8 . The “vertical-horizontal” construction of the integrated medical English course has a close internal relationship, and the two complement each other. The vertical aspect reflects the progressive nature of the course design, while the horizontal aspect demonstrates the enrichment and support for the vertical courses. If the vertical construction is the “trunk” of the tree, the horizontal construction is the “branches and leaves” that provide energy for the trunk to grow. The two dimensions interweave together to jointly outline a “big tree” for the integrated courses. 2. Limitations First of all, there are 77 public undergraduate medical schools in China [ 27 ], but the number of universities that participated in the questionnaires, especially those where supervisors could participate, is relatively small. Then, due to the limitations of the current teaching and training program, there is no time to test and optimize the construction of integrated curriculum. 3. Future Research First, after the completion of this teaching and training program, several medical schools will be selected to test and optimize the integrated curriculum construction. Then, given the current situation where 94.24% of postgraduates and an average of 90.89% of teachers (basic and clinical) usually read “literature related to their major”, the discipline-centered teaching will be adopted in the future to make the teaching more targeted and practical. Finally, given that about 80% of basic medical teachers advocate that teaching should meet the needs of medical college, it is suggested that in the future, college English teaching will be carried out according to the needs of each college, rather than being arranged uniformly regardless of the characteristics of each college. This will facilitate the implementation of English teaching reform. Conclusion The integrated curriculum constructed according to the need analysis can basically achieve the systematic and coherent teaching of medical English, which will accelerate the process of cultivating international medical talents and enhances their international competitiveness. The integrated curriculum can have important practical significance in serving the curriculum design of medical schools and the “Healthy China” strategy. Declarations Supplementary information The online version contains supplementary material available at https://www.wjx.cn/newwjx/manage/myquestionnaires.aspx. Supplementary Material 1: Questionnaire A Supplementary Material 2: Questionnaire B Supplementary Material 3: Questionnaire C Acknowledgments The author would like to acknowledge the support from the medical schools that participated in the questionnaires, especially the supervisors from Yanbian University. Author contribution All the work was done by Changyou Wang. Funding This research was funded by the Jilin Provincial Department of Education project titled “Research on ESP Teaching Empowering the Development of New Quality Productivity - Taking Medical English as an Example” (Project No. JJKH20250386SK) and the Yanbian University 2025 teaching and research project titled “Research and Practice on the Construction of Medical English Integrated Curriculum under the Background of New Liberal Arts”. Data availability The datasets used or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Ethics approval and consent to participate The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Yanbian University of Medical Sciences (Ethics code: YC212025). Electronic informed consent was sent and obtained from participants around the summer of 2025. This study adhered to the relevant requirements of the Helsinki Declaration. Consent for publication Not applicable. 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Supplementary Files QuestionnaireABC.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 11 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in BMC Medical Education → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 04 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 03 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 03 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 01 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 01 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 28 Feb, 2026 Reviews received at journal 27 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 24 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 24 Feb, 2026 Reviews received at journal 23 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 23 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 23 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 23 Feb, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 10 Feb, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 10 Feb, 2026 Editor invited by journal 04 Feb, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 03 Feb, 2026 First submitted to journal 03 Feb, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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8","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":106509,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eThe correlation of the “vertical-horizontal” two-dimensional construction\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage8.jpeg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8667925/v1/5f50fda05e7f7f4f2603c61d.jpeg"},{"id":106809094,"identity":"0578f874-f249-40e0-bad2-850869e49ef3","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-13 16:06:32","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":3112349,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8667925/v1/1c928e08-4342-4df2-aff8-16854b86917c.pdf"},{"id":102762363,"identity":"42ea8e42-99bb-49f6-ac71-b8b81d0c2952","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-16 10:51:08","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":323160,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"QuestionnaireABC.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8667925/v1/c5e537036413b5cd98a1f6fa.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Construction of integrated curriculum for medical English based on questionnaire surveys","fulltext":[{"header":"Introduction","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec2\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe “integrated” curriculum is an effective path to accelerate talent cultivation. As for the\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003econcept of “integration”, some people claim that it could be consecutive studies from bachelor’s to\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003emaster’s, from master’s to doctoral degree, or a consecutive study from bachelor’s to master’s to\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003edoctoral degree [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e], while others argue‌ that it is a natural connection between undergraduate, master’s and doctoral training programs [2]. Here, it refers to the latter.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTo optimize talent cultivation, scholars in the field have conducted research on the integrated teaching of undergraduate, master’s and doctoral programs in recent years. In developed countries, talent cultivation under integrated curriculum has almost become a universal model and has been widely recognized and referenced internationally [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e]. On the basis of drawing on foreign experience, more and more universities in China have attached importance to the integrated curriculum design for undergraduate, master’s and doctoral programs. Due to the long study length of medical major, the integrated talent cultivation in China first began in medical schools [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e] and later this talent cultivation model was extended to other majors. As can be seen from the above, domestic and foreign research mostly focuses on the integrated talent cultivation of professional courses.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMedical English, as a universal language for global medical communication and a tool for tracking medical development trends, has always been highly valued by medical schools in both English speaking and non English speaking countries. As far as its construction of medical English curriculum as a public course is concerned, foreign countries often focus on the design of teaching contents. For instance, countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia generally offer courses related to medical English lexicology and medical English writing ( case reports, prescriptions, diagnostic certificates, and research papers) [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e]. Tokyo Medical University mainly offers courses on medical English vocabulary, medical conversation, reading and writing, etc. [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e]. Domestic research has focused more on teacher’ training and teaching models. For example, Jiang Li [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e] and Wang Changyou [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e] propose teacher’ training through the construction of a teacher community consisting of “language teachers + medical teachers”, Cui Xiaoping [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003e] and Cao Xiuping [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e] suggest a teaching model based on the characteristics of medical colleges and universities, namely “general English + medical English”. However, there has been little research on the construction of integrated medical English curriculum. Most related studies are limited to a single educational stage (either undergraduate or master’s program), which leads to problems such as lack of coherence in the curriculum design, repetitive teaching content, and low teaching efficiency during the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral stages.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTo optimize the quality of medical talent cultivation, this study aims to discuss the construction of integrated curriculum based on questionnaires, in order to meet the needs of medical schools for the curriculum design and serve the “Healthy China” strategy.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Methods","content":"\u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003e1. Participants\u003c/b\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe participants of the questionnaire surveys included medical postgraduates and their supervisors. The former consisted of 886 third-year graduate students from at least 23 medical universities in China, such as Shandong First Medical University, Anhui Medical University, Harbin Medical University, Hainan Medical University, Xinjiang Medical University, Guangxi Medical University and Guizhou Medical University. The latter was composed of 103 graduate supervisors from Yanbian University (30 from the Basic Medical College and 73 from the Clinical Medical College).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003e2.Procedures\u003c/b\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn response to the requirements of integrated teaching as stipulated in \u003cem\u003eGuidelines on Accelerating the ‘Double First-Class’ Construction in Higher Education Institutions\u003c/em\u003e [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e], \u003cem\u003eOpinions on Accelerating the Reform and Development of Graduate Education in the New Era\u003c/em\u003e [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e12\u003c/span\u003e], and \u003cem\u003eOpinions on Pilot Reform of Basic Discipline Enrollment in Some Universities\u003c/em\u003e [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e13\u003c/span\u003e]\u003ca class=\"FNLink\" href=\"#Fn1\" id=\"#FNLinkFn1\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e, as well as based on the theory of “Spiral curriculum” [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e14\u003c/span\u003e] and concepts of modular teaching, need analysis and ESP teaching, around the summer of 2025, firstly, questionnaires were designed for the above-mentioned basic supervisors, clinical supervisors and postgraduates respectively (35 questions each for basic and clinical teachers, and 31 questions for postgraduates). Secondly, Questionnaire Star [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e15\u003c/span\u003e] which is a common questionnaire tool in China, was used to distribute and collect the questionnaires. Finally, Questionnaire Star was used to process the objective questions in the questionnaire, while Deepseek (a Chinese language model) was used to handle the subjective questions respectively. A total of 886 valid responses from postgraduates, 30 from basic supervisors, and 73 from clinical supervisors were collected.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e3.Ethical considerations\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Yanbian University of Medical Sciences (Ethics code: YC 212025). To ensure voluntary participation, the participants of the questionnaires were informed that their involvement was entirely optional. All participants completed the surveys\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eanonymously and no names were recorded.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Results","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e1. Objective questions\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e1.1 Current basic situation of medical English teaching\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOn the necessity of offering medical English courses\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs can be seen from Figures\u0026nbsp;1,\u0026nbsp;more than 80% of the teachers and students claim that it is\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;necessary\u0026rdquo; to offer medical English courses for medical undergraduates.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the Figure 2, it can be seen that about 90% of the teachers and students think that it is \u0026ldquo;necessary\u0026rdquo; to offer medical English courses for postgraduates.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFigure 1 and Figure 2 indicate the great demand for medical English in medical schools.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOn actual proportion of medical English courses offered\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom Figure 3, it is clear that over 70% of the postgraduates answer that they studied medical English courses during their undergraduate stage, while over 80% of them studied such courses during their postgraduate stage. This indicates that the higher the academic level, the higher the proportion of such courses offered.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOn connection and repetition of medical English courses\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom Figure\u0026nbsp;4, it shows that more than 70% of postgraduates believe that the current medical English courses at the undergraduate, master\u0026rsquo;s and doctoral stages are poorly connected and have repetitive content, which means the course design should be coordinated .\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e1.2 Demand for integrated curriculum\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOverall demand for integrated curriculum\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe demand for integrated curriculum in medical English is as follows:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFigure 5: The demand of 886 postgraduates from more than 23 medical schools in China\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFigure 5 illustrates that over 90% of the postgraduates have a high demand for integrated courses.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFigure 6 shows that more than 90% of the basic supervisors also have a high demand for integrated courses.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFigure\u0026nbsp;7\u0026nbsp;illustrates that over 90% of the clinical supervisors also have a high demand for integrated courses.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the above questionnaire results, it can be seen that the integrated teaching of medical English enjoys a high level of support rate: 71.11% of postgraduates and 73.27% of their supervisors (76.67% for basic and 69.87% for clinical) respectively consider it \u0026ldquo;completely necessary\u0026rdquo; or \u0026ldquo;very necessary\u0026rdquo;. Approximately 21% of the teachers and students (21.11% for postgraduates and 21.65% for supervisors on average) consider it \u0026ldquo;generally necessary\u0026rdquo;. While the proportion of those who hold the view of \u0026ldquo;not necessary\u0026rdquo; is relatively low (7.79% for postgraduates and 5.09% for teachers on average). Thus, it indicates that both teachers and students have a high demand for integrated teaching of medical English.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTypes of demand for integrated curriculum\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBased on the questionnaires, the types of courses required by teachers and students (on average) are as follows (Table\u0026nbsp;1, 2, 3).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;1:\u0026nbsp;Types of courses required for undergraduate studies\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCourse\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eProportion\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMedical vocabulary/terminology\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e42.64%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMedical popular science reading\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e25.97%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMedical humanities\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e19.57%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eEnglish academic writing\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e11.56%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eOther courses\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.26%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs shown in Table\u0026nbsp;1, the top three popular courses for undergraduates are medical vocabulary, medical popular science reading and medical humanities.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;2:\u0026nbsp;Types of courses required for master\u0026rsquo;s students\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCourse\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eProportion\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMedical literature reading\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e38.67%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMedical writing\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e36.95%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMedical conversation\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e13.20%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMedical translation\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e11.06%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eOther courses\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.11%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom Table\u0026nbsp;2, it shows that medical literature reading, medical writing and medical conversation are the top three popular courses for master\u0026rsquo;s students.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;3:\u0026nbsp;Types of courses required for doctoral students\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCourse\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eProportion\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSCI writing\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e38.20%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eInternational conference simulation\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e35.16%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMedical conversation\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e19.20%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMedical translation\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e7.45%\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;From Table\u0026nbsp;3, SCI writing and international conference simulation are the first two popular courses for doctoral students.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConsidering the teaching length of college English at the undergraduate, master\u0026rsquo;s and doctoral programs, if only 3, 3 and 2 courses are selected respectively for each program in descending order, they are medical vocabulary/terminology, medical popular science reading and medical humanities for undergraduate programs, medical literature reading, medical writing and medical conversation for master\u0026rsquo;s program, and SCI writing and international conference simulation for doctoral program.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e2. Subjective questions\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThrough Deepseek statistics, it was found that in the open-ended questions, approximately 69% of the respondents approved of the integrated teaching of medical English for undergraduate, master\u0026rsquo;s and doctoral students. Although this result was lower than that of the objective questions (approximately 94%), it still indicates a high level of recognition by teachers and students for the integrated teaching. In addition, the subjective questions also revealed that teachers and students had high expectations for subject-centered medical English teaching for postgraduates (about 75%) and fixed faculty engaged in medical English teaching (about 73%), which provides new ideas for future teaching.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eBased on the above demands for integrated curriculum, the basic framework is outlined as follows.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003e1. Course construction based on demand\u003c/b\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003e1.1 Vertical construction: teaching semester, teaching hours and course attributes\u003c/b\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFor undergraduates, the ideal time to offer medical English curriculum will be around the 5th semester, as by this time students can complete most of the medical professional courses, which make them easier to learn medical English. However, in the higher grades, with the increase of professional courses, students are unable to pay attention to medical English courses unless they are offered as compulsory forms. Given that 55.74% of medical teachers advocate gradually offering medical English courses from the 1st to the 4th semester, the timing of medical English courses should be earlier than the original plan, such as medical humanities in the 2nd semester (elective course), medical vocabulary in the 3rd semester (compulsory course), and medical popular science reading in the 4th semester (compulsory course), which will gradually promote the development of medical English teaching.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFor master\u0026rsquo;s students, since the vast majority of teachers and students agree to start medical courses in the first two semesters, medical literature reading (compulsory course) and medical English conversation (elective course) can be offered in the 1st semester, and medical writing (elective course) can be offered in the 2nd semester. Given the different needs for cultivating academic talents (academic masters) and applied talents (professional masters), the courses for masters will have different focuses which 65.23% of supervisors also hold the same view. For example, in medical English conversation, professional masters focus on conversations with a hospital background (EOP), while academic masters focus on academic exchanges (EAP). Another example is medical writing, where professional masters focus on medical practical writing (EOP), while academic masters focus on thesis writing (EAP).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFor doctoral students, the course schedule for medical English is the same as that for master\u0026rsquo;s\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003estudents, with SCI writing as a compulsory course in the 1st semester and academic conference simulation as a elective course in the 2nd semester.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBased on the above questionnaires, the medical English courses for undergraduate, master\u0026rsquo;s and doctoral students can have flexible class hours ranging from 32 to 48 periods. The vertical construction is shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab4\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 4\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eVertical Construction\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"6\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSerial Number\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEducational\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eLevel\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCourse\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eModule\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTeaching Semester\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTeaching Hours\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCourse Attribute\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eUndergraduate (elementary level)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMedical humanities\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eelective\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMedical vocabulary/terminology\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32\u0026ndash;48\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ecompulsory\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMedical popular science reading\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ecompulsory\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMaster's student (intermediate level)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMedical literature reading\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32\u0026ndash;48\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ecompulsory\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMedical conversation (EOP/EAP)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eelective\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMedical writing(EOP/EAP)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eelective\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDoctoral student\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(advanced level)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSCI writing\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ecompulsory\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eInternational conference simulation\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eelective\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe above vertical construction not only reflects the connection and progression between medical English courses, but also embodies the combination of elective and compulsory, vocational (EOP) and academic (EAP), which meets the requirements of the \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eGuidelines for College English Teaching\u003c/em\u003e \u0026rdquo; (2020 Edition).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003e1.2 Horizontal construction: teaching methods and teaching contents\u003c/b\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec13\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eFirstly, the cooperation of teaching methods\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eCollaboration can be divided into two categories. The first is domestic interdisciplinary/college cooperation. Medical English teaching requires mastery of both language and professional knowledge. Due to the limitations of the knowledge, currently neither medical teachers nor English teachers can independently undertake the teaching tasks of medical English. Given that 60.00% of basic teachers and 64.38% of clinical teachers have a willingness for \u0026ldquo;cooperative teaching\u0026rdquo;, it is advocated that school can take the lead in forming an official cooperative teaching team composed of medical teachers and English teachers to jointly discuss the curriculum design of medical English. The second is cross-border cooperation with foreign counterparts. In the context of the internationalization of higher education, by integrating domestic and international academic resources to establish a joint mentor system, it is possible to expand students\u0026rsquo; academic horizons and enhance their research abilities. Research has shown that the average number of published papers per postgraduate under the guidance of dual supervisors is higher than that under single supervisor [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e16\u003c/span\u003e]. Therefore, conditions should be actively created to carry out cross-border cooperation.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec14\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eSecondly, the internationalization of teaching contents\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eUnder the influence of internationalization in higher education, the course contents at all educational levels should be in line with international standards.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDuring undergraduate stage, students can use international platforms to learn medical knowledge, such as mastering core medical vocabulary through Complete Anatomy [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e17\u003c/span\u003e] and the International Classification of Diseases [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003e], studying medical ethics/medical humanities through edX [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e19\u003c/span\u003e], reading medical popular science materials from Mayoclinic [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDuring the postgraduate stage, students should make greater use of international platforms to enhance their knowledge, such as grasping the internationally recognized writing standards for academic papers by reading literature materials from core academic databases such as PubMed [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e21\u003c/span\u003e], Scopus, ResearchGate and Web of Science, practising extraction of core viewpoints and paper writing through Scholary [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e22\u003c/span\u003e] and Overleaf [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e23\u003c/span\u003e], participating in medical English conversations and international academic conferences from Oxford Medical Simulation [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e24\u003c/span\u003e], Zoom Events \u0026amp; Webinars [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e25\u003c/span\u003e], or LinkedIn [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e26\u003c/span\u003e]. To keep up with the latest knowledge, the course content at each educational stage should be updated promptly so that it can be transformed into teaching resources.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003e1.3 Correlation of \u0026ldquo;vertical- horizontal\u0026rdquo; construction\u003c/b\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBased on the above description, the correlation between the two dimensions is shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig8\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe \u0026ldquo;vertical-horizontal\u0026rdquo; construction of the integrated medical English course has a close internal relationship, and the two complement each other. The vertical aspect reflects the progressive nature of the course design, while the horizontal aspect demonstrates the enrichment and support for the vertical courses. If the vertical construction is the \u0026ldquo;trunk\u0026rdquo; of the tree, the horizontal construction is the \u0026ldquo;branches and leaves\u0026rdquo; that provide energy for the trunk to grow. The two dimensions interweave together to jointly outline a \u0026ldquo;big tree\u0026rdquo; for the integrated courses.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003e2. Limitations\u003c/b\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFirst of all, there are 77 public undergraduate medical schools in China [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e27\u003c/span\u003e], but the number of universities that participated in the questionnaires, especially those where supervisors could participate, is relatively small.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThen, due to the limitations of the current teaching and training program, there is no time to test and optimize the construction of integrated curriculum.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003e3. Future Research\u003c/b\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFirst, after the completion of this teaching and training program, several medical schools will be selected to test and optimize the integrated curriculum construction.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThen, given the current situation where 94.24% of postgraduates and an average of 90.89% of teachers (basic and clinical) usually read \u0026ldquo;literature related to their major\u0026rdquo;, the discipline-centered teaching will be adopted in the future to make the teaching more targeted and practical.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFinally, given that about 80% of basic medical teachers advocate that teaching should meet the needs of medical college, it is suggested that in the future, college English teaching will be carried out according to the needs of each college, rather than being arranged uniformly regardless of the characteristics of each college. This will facilitate the implementation of English teaching reform.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe integrated curriculum constructed according to the need analysis can basically achieve the systematic and coherent teaching of medical English, which will accelerate the process of cultivating international medical talents and enhances their international competitiveness. The integrated curriculum can have important practical significance in serving the curriculum design of medical schools and the \u0026ldquo;Healthy China\u0026rdquo; strategy.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSupplementary information\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe online version contains supplementary material available at https://www.wjx.cn/newwjx/manage/myquestionnaires.aspx.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ctable cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" align=\"\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd\u003eSupplementary Material 1: Questionnaire A\u003cbr\u003eSupplementary Material 2: Questionnaire B\u003cbr\u003eSupplementary Material 3: Questionnaire C\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcknowledgments\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe author would like to acknowledge the support from the medical schools that participated in the questionnaires, especially the supervisors from Yanbian University.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor contribution\u003c/strong\u003e \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll the work was done by Changyou Wang.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis research was funded by the Jilin Provincial Department of Education project titled \u0026ldquo;Research on ESP Teaching Empowering the Development of New Quality Productivity - Taking Medical English as an Example\u0026rdquo; (Project No. JJKH20250386SK) and the Yanbian University 2025 teaching and research project titled \u0026ldquo;Research and Practice on the Construction of Medical English Integrated Curriculum under the Background of New Liberal Arts\u0026rdquo;.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eData availability\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe datasets used or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEthics approval and consent to participate\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp skip=\"true\"\u003eThe study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Yanbian University of Medical Sciences (Ethics code: YC212025). Electronic informed consent was sent and obtained from participants around the summer of 2025. This study adhered to the relevant requirements of the Helsinki Declaration.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent for publication\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot applicable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCompeting interests\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe author declares that no competing interests exist.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLi MG, Mu HS, Ning Y, et al. Research on the integration of curriculum system of bachelors, masters and doctors based on 3\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;1 +1\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;X flexible training mode-Taking the major of Geology Resource and Geology Engineering as an example. 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However, current studies are limited to the integration of professional courses, while there is insufficient research on the integration of public courses. Medical English, as the universal language for global medical communication, has always been highly valued in medical schools both in English and non English speaking countries. So it is necessary to discuss the construction of its integration as a public course.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethods \u003c/strong\u003eIn order to understand the curriculum design of medical English, 3 questionnaires were conducted among postgraduates and their supervisors from at least 23 medical schools in China around the summer of 2025. The questionnaires were distributed and collected by Questionnaire Star (a commonly used questionnaire tool in China). And the subjective and objective questions of the questionnaires were processed by Questionnaire Star and Deepseek (a language model in China) , respectively.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults \u003c/strong\u003eThrough the questionnaires, it is found that firstly, the current courses of medical English lack coherence (71.67%), and the courses contents are highly repetitive (73.93%). Secondly, there is a high demand for integrated teaching of medical English (94.91% on average for teachers, 92.21% for postgraduates). Finally, based on the different needs of teachers and students for the types of undergraduate, master’s and doctoral courses, an integrated medical English curriculum for them was constructed from both vertical (teaching semester, teaching hours and course attributes) and horizontal (teaching methods and teaching contents) perspectives.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusion\u003c/strong\u003e The integrated curriculum of medical English based on questionnaires can not only overcome various drawbacks of current medical English courses, but also effectively promote the cultivation of international medical talents, which will have high reference value for the curriculum design of medical English in other medical schools.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Construction of integrated curriculum for medical English based on questionnaire surveys","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-02-16 10:51:03","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8667925/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2026-03-04T11:31:47+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-03T17:19:35+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"222077204611898777194657901351082602883","date":"2026-03-03T16:54:34+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"335839676201952639952086203044400128977","date":"2026-03-02T04:16:31+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"67524586364290065434031100453296594265","date":"2026-03-02T02:02:15+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-02-28T22:20:45+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-02-27T13:37:12+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"46115856605269976132265021910237504142","date":"2026-02-24T15:06:06+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"26978374923948685638105422304868320387","date":"2026-02-24T12:05:03+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-02-23T23:15:13+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"205440326016984049647380109351682803632","date":"2026-02-23T22:43:23+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"82239535091308657389604989330936529517","date":"2026-02-23T18:29:38+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"295291572020895671893538991663148209774","date":"2026-02-23T16:28:33+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-02-11T01:24:47+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-02-11T01:17:22+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2026-02-05T04:16:14+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2026-02-04T03:39:19+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"BMC Medical Education","date":"2026-02-04T03:33:52+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-medical-education","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"meed","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Medical Education](http://bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/meed/default.aspx","title":"BMC Medical Education","twitterHandle":"BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"b3f1d2e5-9513-450f-bb59-9861e48fce0d","owner":[],"postedDate":"February 16th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-13T16:02:47+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-8667925","link":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-026-09109-7","journal":{"identity":"bmc-medical-education","isVorOnly":false,"title":"BMC Medical Education"},"publishedOn":"2026-04-11 15:59:05","publishedOnDateReadable":"April 11th, 2026"},"versionCreatedAt":"2026-02-16 10:51:03","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1186/s12909-026-09109-7","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-026-09109-7","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8667925","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8667925","identity":"rs-8667925","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}