Presentation Prescription: How B1+ Med Students Prepare for Oral Presentations in English

This conference report investigates how B1+ medical students prepare oral presentations in medical English within an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) context. Drawing on 42 semi-structured interviews from a cohort of 180 students, the study applies inductive thematic analysis to explore preparation strategies, tool use, and presentation anxiety. Findings show widespread adoption of AI for presentation, particularly ChatGPT, alongside slide templates (e.g., Canva, SlidesGo) and online resources such as Google, dictionaries, and Wikipedia. Students use these tools to structure content, support terminology, and reduce cognitive load, while high levels of anxiety about presenting in English persist. The report highlights the growing integration of AI in medical English and ESP pedagogy, offering practical implications for teaching presentation skills, responsible AI use, and digital literacy in higher education.