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Genesis Valdovinos
Professor Adler
STACC English 1A #32474
15 April 2015
A Code That Can Save Lives
In the article The Concept of Discourse Community, John Swales, a professor of
linguistics, defines discourse community as a community united by a common interest and
language. A medical facility is an example of a discourse community because each medical
facility has a set of rules, standards, and codes to follow, or so called their common language.
These facilities share the same interest for example improving the wellbeing of their patients, but
it is the different kind of specialties (genres) that break down the different discourse communities
within the medical facilities. A whole hospital does not make a whole discourse community
because there are different departments (specialties) that create such division. For example, there
are different kinds of physicians in the hospital that do not share the same system of knowledge;
in fact, some know and focus more on elders, cancer, babies, or general patients. The Obstetrics
and Gynecology facility meets all six of Swales characteristics of a discourse community, and in
order for a person to fit in he or she must provide such characteristics: common goals,
intercommunication, participatory mechanisms, possess one or more genres, lexis or language,
and threshold a level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and expertise.
Intercommunication
An Obstetrician-Gynecologist (ob-gyn) discourse community would not exist without
communication which also applies to other discourse communities. Because of communication
there is a sort of discussion, movement, and innovations happening. In the article Discourse
Community, Erik Borg illustrates communication within a community as speech community.

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He states, speech community refers not to a gathering of individuals, but to an open network of
people who share ways of reading texts, primarily literary texts; this term therefore highlights the
social derivation of interpretation (1). Borg believes the only way a person can get into a certain
community is to learn and gain the same knowledge as the people inside the community.
Prospective ob-gyns must pursue the same path and communicate with the experienced, or so
called insiders in order to become part of the discourse community. Ob-gyn physicians
communicate differently with their patients by using codes with other physicians to announce a
tragedy because they do not want to alarm them and make their situation worse. Communication
with other physicians, paramedics, and nurses require the knowledge of codes, but also the
proper paper work so the patients receive the care they need. Those who are within the discourse
community are required to understand and know all codes because it can save time and that is a
chance to save life.
Lexis
Moreover, a discourse community has acquired some specific lexis (Swales). In addition
to the intercommunication concept; lexis is more of a specific language or code. Obstetriciansgynecologists and other medical communities have a certain use of terminology (codes) that they
use to separate themselves from the patients. The special language a doctor ob-gyn use when
making a diagnostic or writing a prescription help reinforce the message. For physicians, big
words do not seem to help because they are still too complex for patients to understand, and as a
community that is continually in a fast pace just makes more sense. For example, SOAP notes
forms are used for two reasons: patient experience and medical observation. The code (soap)
used stands for Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan. Ob-Gyns look at such documents
to decide what the diagnosis should be because this form gives the patients input, possible back

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story, and initial impression of the patient. Codes seem to work by helping maintain a physicians
primary goal the wellbeing of their patient. According to Dr. Cardin, the word elective is
commonly applied to obstetrics procedures because it has to do with induction of labor or
cesarean section, in which the word itself would not scare or make the patient as nervous as
listening to the real painful word. It is believed that lexis is an essential part to the
intercommunication of a community because to acknowledging the lexis allows
intercommunication.
Common goals
An equally significant aspect of a discourse community is the need for a common goal. A
group cannot stay together if they do not share anything in common. Obstetricians- Gynecologist
are continuously seeking for new treatments to prevent miscarriages, and also trying to provide
all women with a much more pleasant pregnancy without having to worry. According to the book
Danforths Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ronald S. Gibbs an obstetrics- gynecologist physician;
explains how a miscarriage has always been an uncontrollable situation for the human being, but
he states that as a common goal to improve the wellbeing of their patients (baby and mother)
their studies have found a solution called evacuation. The evacuation procedure has given all
women young and old a greater chance to get pregnant easier and with a lower percentage of
having another miscarriage. This procedure has to do with cleaning, or as physicians refer as
vacuuming the uterus so that there is nothing left from the past miscarriage that might affect
the new baby. According to Dr. John Cardin, an ob-gyn in the city of Long Beach says, there are
many goals we physicians share, and one of them is to help women give birth to healthy babies,
and that is done through various visits a woman completes in order to prevent a miscarriage, or
anything that can result in a misfortune. Ob-gyns do not just have to monitor a baby though out

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nine months, but they have to be prepared for any change that can threaten either one of their
patients.
Preparatory Mechanisms
Furthermore, a discourse community can only remain a community if they have similar
preparatory mechanisms. According to Dr. Cardin, some of the preparatory mechanisms
physicians use to maintain themselves updated with new information is though organization
meetings; in which many physicians meet and address new issues to be aware. He did not state
clearly which organizations he belongs to, but he did assure that it is necessary to be part of a
community organization to be informed and find growth. Another contributing preparatory
mechanism these physicians use to communicate is the internet. For example, the web page
someone from their discourse community creates to keep everyone informed and updated on
meetings, posts, and new (current) study analysis.
These preparatory mechanisms can also help an outsider (someone not part of the
community) to become part of such organization or community. As for the internet enrollment, it
is found that there is a required fee in almost all of the web organization pages because this is a
current of communication that people who are not part of it would not normally be aware. For
example, in such mechanism a person is able to obtain much more knowledge about the new
medical and surgical techniques, obstetrics management, and clinical evaluation of drugs. In
addition to authoritative articles and studies such as, case reports, current commentaries, personal
perspectives, editorials, and letters. All these are preparatory mechanisms that can help an
outsider become closer to being an insider view because they would begin to see how such
discourse community works. In other words, these mechanisms not only help shape an outsider,
but it is a resource for the insiders. According to the article Identity, Authority, and Learning to

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Write in New Work Places, Elizabeth Wardle an associate professor at the University of Central
Florida says, newcomers must choose levels and types of engagement; they must find modes of
belonging (524). Such websites are modes of preparatory in which a newcomer can engage and
get connections into such discourse community of obstetrics and gynecology.
Genres
In addition to the idea of preparatory mechanisms is the genre. Swales explains, Genres
are types of texts that are recognizable to readers and writers, and that meet the needs of the
rhetorical situations in which they function (467). A genre also contributes to the preparatory
mechanisms physicians use to communicate because they help make the job easier. According to
the Book Medical Translation Step by Step: Learning by Drafting, Vincent Montalt says,
Genres enable us to anticipate the type of information we should be looking for (60). An
example is the patients history forms. The form gives the medical staff the ability to
communicate through visual signs/symptoms, or daily habits without having to refer to the
patient frequently. The main objective of such from (genre) is to gain knowledge on the patients
past visits, and it can be the primary use for a diagnosis. Some other genres serve as a bridge of
communication filling in the gaps between speakers of the same language that belong to different
knowledge communities. Between patients and physicians it is necessary for the patients to
understand the causes, mechanisms, and risks or their disease; and for that reason a patient must
receive a fact sheet (a genre) in which it provides such information.
Conclusion
Indeed, to become part of an obstetrics and gynecology discourse community it is
necessary for a person to acknowledge and take to practice all of the six characteristics Swales

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talks about because it is then that one can fit in such community. As for the research, and
information gathered I believe that there are many ways one could immediately be part of a
discourse community without the need for being an actual practitioner. I yet, have not obtained
any practice, or possess any experience that could contribute to such discourse community. I
strongly believe that once I enroll into one of the websites in which I will experience more about
this discourse community it will no later become an insider instead of an outsider. In over all,
this research helped me be aware of such things that I will need get prepared for the future, and
help me fit in because I will then know and share the same common goals in which we will
communicate and connect. This discourse community is a community whose language saves
lives, and I want to be part of it.

Work Cited
Borg, Erik. "Key Concepts in ELT Discourse Community." Print.
Cardin, John. "Obstetrics and Gynecology Discourse Community." Personal interview. 7 Apr.
2015.
Gibbs, Ronald S. Danforth's Obstetrics and Gynecology. 10th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott
Williams & Wilkins, 2008. Print.
Montalt, Vicent, and Maria Gonzlez-Davies. Medical Translation Step by Step:learning by
Drafting. Routledge, 2014. 297. Print.

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Simkin, Penny. "Roundtable Discussion: The Language of Birth." Birth: Print.
Swales, John. The Concept of Discourse Community. Genre Analysis: English in Academic
and research settings. Boston: Cambridge UP, 1990. 21-32 Print.
Wardle, Elizabeth. "Identity, Authority, and Learning to Write in New Workplaces." Writing
about Writing; a College Reader/ (2010): 520-35. Print.
"Women's Health Care Physicians." Obstetrics & Gynecology (The Green Journal). Web. 15 Apr.
2015. <http://www.acog.org/About_ACOG/Green_Journal_Info>.
Interview Questions
What is a common goal you share with other ob-gyns physicians?
How do you get updated about any new information? (Ex: E-mails, text messages, phone calls,
or meeting).
Are you part of an organization? If so, which ones?
What kind of words or terminology do you use with other physicians that your patients would
not know or understand regularly?