Abstract The article examines medical discourse as a special type of institutional professional discourse functioning in the field of medical communication. The main approaches to defining the concept of “discourse” in modern linguistics are analyzed, and its structural, pragmatic, and cognitive characteristics are revealed. Special attention is paid to the specifics of medical discourse, its genre forms, and communicative interaction models within the “doctor–patient” and “specialist–specialist” systems. The distinction between medical text and medical discourse is substantiated as a methodologically significant condition for developing effective teaching technologies. The paper considers active and interactive methods for developing professional communicative competence in medical students, including role-playing games, clinical cases, discussions, business games, and problem-based learning. It is concluded that interactive technologies are a key tool in shaping the professional linguistic identity of future doctors and ensure the development of speech skills necessary for successful medical practice.