  Needs analysis (NA) is an information gathering process (Nunan 1988) that is
executed to identify the learners reasons for learning a language so that they
might be taught the relevant teaching materials. This study was undertaken at
College of Medicine and Medical Sciences (CMMS), Taif University during the
academic year 2008 to identify English for Medical Purposes (EMP) needs of the
medical undergraduates. Multiple methods of data collection such as exploratory
interviews, observations and a questionnaire were used to find out their
linguistic needs and the data were triangulated to validate the findings. The
findings offered significant insights in selecting suitable course contents to
teach English to freshmen medical undergraduates of CMMS. It has been reported
that 1) the students lacked the required level of English language proficiency,
2) they needed reading and speaking skills more than others and 3) the data
analysis also helped identify the most important language tasks in the context
of CMMS. Both populations; the faculty members and the medical undergraduates,
recommended that English contact hours should be increased and that EMP should
be emphasized more instead of EAP to prepare the learners for their medical
studies
