Needs in English skills of medical students at a university in Central Thailand

English is now required for medical students since Thailand has become known as the world's foremost medical tourism destination. The study aimed to investigate the needs in English language skills of 40 final-year medical students at a university in central Thailand. The English skills included reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. A survey questionnaire was used in this study. The questionnaire was divided into three parts: (1) background information, (2) the needs in English language skills in terms of necessities and lacks, and (3) opinions on improving English language skills and suggestions on how the faculty should support the learning of English language. The data were statistically analyzed using mean and standard deviation (SD). The results demonstrated that the most necessary skill is reading skill, followed by writing skill, speaking skill, and listening skill. The students need to use reading skills most of the time to perform in medical school. They also expressed concern about the need to improve their reading skills, followed by speaking, listening, and writing skills. It is suggested that the faculty should provide the medical students with more English reading classes and English communication classes to enable them to perform better in medical school and increase their opportunities to get scholarships, study abroad, and in their future careers.