Ich Weiss Nicht Was Soll Es Bedeuten: Language Matters in Medicine

摘要

For better or worse, English (with its many words annexed from Latin and other languages) is today's lingua franca in the medical and life sciences. It is nearly impossible to be a successful medical or life scientist without basic skills to read and communicate in English. There are, however, many other potential consumers of medical and scientific research results—health-care professionals, educators, and the general public—for whom proficiency in English is a luxury that only some can afford. Moreover, important research results are published in languages other than English. And whereas many English-speaking scientists are content to ignore such publications despite the potential adverse effects of ignorance, for some types of research—for example, systematic reviews—the consequences of restricting the search to English titles or keywords defeats the purpose of providing a comprehensive summary of the existing information.