Crafting ONE-SHOT Prompts to Support Your Medical Students' Language Practice

Author: Jeanette Dennisson, Professor, St. Marianna University School of Medicine

If you’ve ever wished your medical English learners could practice more independently, consistently, and purposefully—ONE-SHOT prompting might be your new favorite homework task that utilizes the power of AI chatbots like ChatGPT.

Let’s look at what a ONE-SHOT prompt is, why it’s useful for Japanese medical students, and how to make one for various language tasks. You can achieve this through an easy framework you can start using right away.

What is a One-Shot Prompt?

A ONE-SHOT prompt is a single, clearly written instruction that guides ChatGPT (or other AI chatbot) to take on a specific role, deliver targeted support, and follow a predictable structure in an English-language task. For example:

Task: Medical interview question practice: **stomach pain**

(**X**: parts of the prompt which can be easily changed for variation of the same task.)

→ Copy/paste this prompt into ChatGPT and try it out right now. Feel free to change the **X** parameters.

Why ONE-SHOT Prompts Work for Medical Students

📌 Practical: Easy to recreate from a template for supplementary practice within any EMP course. Teachers and students can recreate the prompt to meet their own needs.

💪 Confidence-building: AI prompt-based tasks are self-directed, repeatable, and independent, providing learner-specific feedback. Learning at one’s own level and pace will help reduce learner anxiety and improve motivation.

🗣️ Listening-focused: Provides direct feedback on speaking/listening practice. Pre-designed prompts can even adjust for slow, spoken interaction to reflect ESL learners.

You are a kind, slow-speaking English tutor. Help me practice asking interview questions about **STOMACH PAIN**. My language target is **CEFR level B2**. Ask me one question at a time. If I make a mistake, give feedback in **JAPANESE** and ask me to try again. Say 'Let’s start' to begin.

🌐 Language scaffolding: Control of language (Japanese/English) of instruction and feedback as well as the difficulty of English usage by the AI (e.g., CEFR level).

🩺 Adaptable: Prompts can be easily adapted to mirror any patient scenario allowing for realistic, dynamic conversations, supporting the EMP course content and OSCE prep.

ONE-SHOT Prompt Framework: “PROMPT-MAP”

Here is the PROMPT-MAP checklist to help you design your own ONE-SHOT prompts for students to use:

P	Purpose	What is the language goal (e.g., asking questions)?
R	Roles	What should ChatGPT pretend to be (e.g., patient, tutor)?
O	Output	What kind of responses do you want from students?
M	Modality	Should they speak, type, or listen?
P	Personalization	Should language be CEFR A2? Should ChatGPT speak slowly?
T	Tone	Should it be kind, humorous, serious, etc.?
M	Markers	What cues start and end the task?
A	Assessment	How should ChatGPT give feedback (e.g., in Japanese)?
P	Printing	Should ChatGPT offer a summary file at the end?

Sample ONE-SHOT Prompt: Medical interview practice: **stomach pain**

I want to practice role-playing a patient interview. You are a patient with **STOMACH PAIN**. I am a medical student. Answer my questions about your **SYMPTOMS**. Speak slowly in simple English (CEFR LEVEL A2) during the interview. When playing the role of the patient, speak with a **WORRIED** tone. When you provide feedback at the end please be kind and encouraging. Prompt me to start by saying, "Hello, doctor." If I ask something unclear, say 'Can you ask that again more simply?' When I say 'I'm done', give me feedback in **JAPANESE**. When I say, "file please" create a downloadable **WORD** file containing our patient conversation and feedback.

→ Copy/paste this prompt into ChatGPT and try it out right now. Feel free to change the **X** parameters.

Prompt Breakdown:

P: I want to practice role-playing a patient interview.

R: You are a patient with **STOMACH PAIN**. I am a medical student.

O: Answer my questions about your **SYMPTOMS**.

M/P: Speak slowly in simple English (CEFR LEVEL **A2**) during the interview.

T: When playing the role of the patient, speak with a **WORRIED** tone. When you provide feedback at the end please be kind and encouraging.

MAP: Prompt me to start by saying, “Hello, doctor.” If I ask something unclear, say ‘Can you ask that again more simply?’ When I say ‘I’m done’, give me feedback in **JAPANESE**. When I say, “file please” create a downloadable **WORD** file containing our patient conversation and feedback.

Final Thoughts

ONE-SHOT prompts have much potential for language learning. They are a tool that bridges classroom instruction and autonomous practice. Medical English educators in Japan can tailor prompts for language building skills, personal speaking/listening/writing feedback, and patient interview simulation. Want help designing ONE-SHOT prompts to use in the classroom with students? Contact us—we’re building a ONE-SHOT prompt hub for this purpose!

Let’s build smarter ONE-SHOT prompts for cultivating more English proficient doctors.

For more samples access our free Prompt Hub (course code 4-PanSIG), — https://medchat.kindai.io or contact Jeanette Dennisson (dennisson@marianna-u.ac.jp) or Gary Ross (gary@p.kanazawa-u.ac.jp)