Teaching foreign languages at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka: A historical overview

Abstract

This paper offers an overview of the development of teaching foreign languages at the De-partment of social sciences and Medical Humanities, Faculty of Medicine in Rijeka, and its influence on the growth of the Faculty of Medicine in general. The specialization of teaching foreign languages will be considered from its introduction up to the present day when there are different foreign language courses for each study programme. In analysing the collected material, a historical approach was taken, and methods of analysis and synthesis were used. The development of teaching foreign languages began with the English language, and today the teaching of Italian and German has also been introduced. teaching foreign languages is an integral part of all studies, either as a compulsory or elective course. Foreign language courses introduce international medical terminology and enable students to follow the development of modern medicine. teaching foreign languages enables both teaching and scientific staff to have a certain freedom in creating teaching materials and referring students to relevant foreign literature. All this has resulted, on the one hand, in faster and better involvement of the Faculty of Medicine in European and world trends of modern medicine, and on the other hand, has given students the necessary skills they are going to need in their professional continuous education.