Although language assessments for medical professionals in the UK are changing, there is still a need for them to demonstrate their proficiency in English before working in the National Health Service (NHS). When providing English for specific purposes (ESP) courses for retraining refugee doctors, we need to consider all the potential barriers that every language learner faces, as well as professional barriers that may challenge them as a specific group. The following article examines the linguistic (and psycholinguistic) barriers that confront this intelligent, motivated and diligent group of people, and puts forward a model that teachers, course planners and material designers may use for their English language training.