hi I'm Ali welcome to Oxford online
English in this lesson you can learn how
to talk about illness medicine and
healthcare in English you'll learn how
to deal with a visit to the doctor's
office how to talk about different
healthcare systems how to talk about
going to the hospital and more first
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Oxford online English comm let's start
by looking at language you can use if
you need to see a doctor
so what can I do for you today well I've
been having these headaches just behind
my eyes how long have you been having
them for about a week now the unconstant
they come and go but they're really
painful do you have a fever no I don't
think so
any respiratory symptoms how do you mean
for example do you have a blocked nose
or a sore throat a cough or anything
like that no nothing like that is this
the first time you've had a problem like
this as far as I can remember yeah okay
please sit on the bed over here I need
to check your pulse and blood pressure
I'll also need to check your lymph nodes
to see if they're swollen in the
dialogue the doctor asks many questions
can you remember any typically the
doctor will ask about your symptoms your
medical history and about medication
which you're taking to ask about your
symptoms the doctor might ask do you
have a fever do you have a cough do you
have a sore throat the doctor might ask
more questions about a specific symptom
for example how long have you been
feeling like this is this the first time
you've had a problem like this how
severe is the pain if you're describing
your symptoms it's common to use the
present perfect tense especially for a
problem that appears repeatedly for
example I've been having really bad
headaches I've been having some stomach
problems I've been having a lot of
problems getting to sleep you could also
add a time period as in I've had this
cough for a week now the describe most
stable symptoms use the present simple
tense for example I have a swelling in
my right knee I have this rash on my arm
after you describe your symptoms the
doctor might want to do some basic
checks on you for example he or she
might want to take your pulse
check your blood pressure or listen to
your heartbeat or breathing using a
stethoscope next the doctor will suggest
further treatment and possibly prescribe
medicine for you to take
are you taking any medication currently
no nothing any allergies nope I'm going
to prescribe you some painkillers take
one as soon as you feel your headaches
starting if you're still in pain after
an hour take a second one don't take
more than two pills in four hours or
more than six pills in a 24-hour period
okay
also don't drink alcohol or take any
other anti-inflammatories while you're
taking these can't you do some more
tests what if it's something more
serious if you're still having the same
problem in two weeks then we'll need to
investigate further these things often
clear up by themselves you should also
make sure you get enough sleep stay
hydrated and avoid stress if possible do
I have to pay for the prescription you
pay a seven pound prescription fee I'm
giving you enough pills to last for
weeks so you should have enough can I
take it to any chemists yes of course
there's a pharmacy in the supermarket
around the corner you could get your
medicine there okay I'll do that thank
you
doctors can prescribe you medicine or
other treatments they do this by writing
what you need on a piece of paper a
prescription prescribed is the verb and
prescription is the noun you can also
use the noun prescription to refer to
the medicine which a doctor prescribes
for you for example you can say the
doctor prescribed antihistamines but
they didn't help
I lost my prescription so I'll have to
call the doctor and see if she can send
me a replacement antihistamines are
often taken by people who have allergies
in the dialogue do you remember what
kind of medicine the doctor prescribed
she prescribed pain killers common pain
killers are paracetamol and ibuprofen
pain killers may also be
anti-inflammatories they reduce fever
and swelling after you have your
prescription you can collect your
medicine from a pharmacy also called a
chemist in UK English although both
words are used the doctor or pharmacist
might also give you advice on how to
take your medicine for example take one
pill every 12 hours make sure you take
the pills with food
avoid alcohol while you're taking these
or they might not be as effective
finally the doctor might also give you
some more general advice in the dialogue
the doctor mentioned three things do you
remember them I said you should also
make sure you get enough sleep stay
hydrated and avoid stress if possible
last question for this section what
happens if you don't stay hydrated if
you don't stay hydrated by drinking
enough fluids
you'll get dehydrated next let's look at
language to use if you aren't sure where
to go or how to get medical help
so weird question but what do I do if I
need to see a doctor I've never been to
a hospital or anything here and I have
no idea how it works you have insurance
no no anyway what's wrong with you
nothing much I have this swelling in my
wrist and it's a little uncomfortable to
move it I just like to get it checked
out well you could go to a public
hospital I think as a resident you're
entitled to free public health care but
even if you have to pay it won't be much
you might have to wait for a long time
though you mean you have to wait to see
a doctor yes that too but I mean that
after you see a doctor it might be a
long time before you get any treatment
from what I hear the public health
system is really over stretched at the
moment and people have to wait weeks or
months for treatment so you have private
health insurance yeah most people do you
could also go to a private clinic or
just go to a GP and let him or her refer
you to the right specialist if you need
further treatment would that be very
expensive a GP appointment normally
costs about 40 or 50 euros for further
treatment it depends on what you need
obviously of course if you're uninsured
it'll be more expensive but it's not
likely to be ridiculous maybe I'll do
that then I'd prefer to get it looked at
sooner can you recommend anyone I can
give you the details for my GP there's
also a website I can show you where you
can find a doctor closer to where you
live if you like that sounds great
Thanks in your country if you need to
see a doctor what do you do first
can you go directly to the hospital or
do you need to go to a GP or smaller
clinic first let's take the UK as an
example most people in the UK use public
health care which is almost completely
free some people choose to buy private
insurance which can give you more choice
about where and when you get treatment
if you're using public health care
you'll generally register with a GP GP
stands for general practitioner meaning
a doctor who doesn't specialize in one
area GPS mostly worked in small clinics
not in hospitals if you have a problem
you'll go to your GP first your GP will
then help you to arrange further
treatment if you need it for example
your GP might refer you to a specialist
if you need more targeted treatment in
other countries most people have health
insurance in some places healthcare can
be very expensive if you're uninsured
what about in your country look at three
questions one do most people use public
health care or is it more usual to buy
private health insurance two is public
health care high-quality and reliable
why or why not
three are all residents entitled to free
public health care or are there
restrictions could you answer these
questions try it say an answer out loud
or write it down or do both remember
that you might need to repeat and
practice your answer several times so
that it's fluent and clear
did you do it if so feel free to share
your answers with other learners in the
comments let's move on what happens if
you have a more serious health issue and
you need to stay in hospital
have you heard about what happened to
Louie no what he went to the doctors for
a routine checkup and they discovered he
had a major cardiac problem they sent
him to A&E right away they wouldn't let
him go home even for an hour then he had
surgery the same day no way I saw him on
Tuesday he looked absolutely fine yeah I
was shocked too anyway we should go and
see him don't you think he would
probably appreciate some company sure
how are they keeping him in from what I
heard they want to monitor him for a few
days and then he can go home so when can
we go do they have certain visiting
hours yeah it's in the afternoon
sometime I can check on the website let
me check with his wife too because I'm
sure she'll be spending time there and I
think there's a to visitor maximum I
hope he's all right I've never had an
operation or had to stay overnight in
the hospital but I imagine it's fairly
miserable yep you're not wrong hopefully
he'll be discharged soon we should take
him some fruit or something nice to eat
can we do that I think so but I'll check
to be sure look at a sentence from the
dialogue they sent him to an A&E right
away do you know what a and e means an e
stands for accident and emergency it's
the hospital department where you go if
you have a serious medical issue in
American English it's commonly called ER
emergency room let's look at four more
sentences from the dialogue in each
sentence there's a word missing can you
remember the missing words if not you
can also go back and review the dialogue
to find them if you want did you find
the missing words let's look how long
are they keeping him in means how long
will he have to stay in hospital they
here refers to the hospital staff
hospitals have visiting hours when you
can go and spend time with your friends
and relatives who are staying there
even if you need to go to hospital you
might be an outpatient meaning that you
go to hospital do what you need and then
go home again
the opposite is inpatient meaning that
you need to stay overnight when you're
ready to leave the hospital and go home
they discharge you you can discharge
yourself earlier but your doctors might
try to persuade you to stay longer now
let's look at our final section
recovering from a health problem
so how are you feeling quite fragile to
be honest I mean I feel better than I
did but it's a long process well that's
to be expected you had a major operation
how long do they say it'll take to
recover
they don't give exact answers to things
like that I guess every case is
different but they said I should be back
to normal in around 3 months 3 months
obviously are going to be like this for
three months or at least I hope not
I get tired so easily right now they
told me I should get some strength back
in a couple of weeks do you have to go
back in for any more tests I have to go
tomorrow to get the incision cleaned and
dressed it's a big wound so that will
take a while to heal just by itself
apart from that I think I have to go
back in a month or so for an ECG maybe
there's more but I'm not focusing on
that right now one day at a time do you
need any help with anything please ask
if you do I'd love to help if I can
that's kind of you if you want you could
just take me for a walk I'm not supposed
to go outside by myself but it's nice to
get some fresh air I start going crazy
if I'm just stuck in bed or at home all
day sure how about tomorrow that would
be great come by anytime let's look at
some language you heard in the dialogue
do you remember how this language was
used could you explain what these
sentences mean remember you can pause
the video to think or go back and review
the dialogue if you need to fragile is
similar to weak it's often used to
describe things which break easily like
china plates or things made of glass
if you're feeling fragile you feel weak
and ill if you're recovering from a
serious illness or an operation you'll
need to get your strength back you also
heard the phrase get back to normal
for example it'll take a few weeks to
get back to normal a wound is an opening
or a cut in your skin if you have an
operation the surgeon will need to make
an opening in your skin which needs to
heal
your words finally one day at a time is
a phrase which means you focus on the
present rather than thinking about the
future you can use it when you're
dealing with a difficult or complex
situation you can also use the longer
phrase take things one day at a time
for example everything's so busy right
now I can't make plans for next year
I'm just taking things one day at a time
of course we hope you don't need the
language you've seen in this lesson but
we still hope it was useful for you
thanks for watching see you next time
you