how to learn medical english
TRANSCRIPT
HowHow to to effectivelyeffectively learnlearn
MedicalMedical EnglishEnglish
Grzegorz Chodkowski (MD)Grzegorz Chodkowski (MD)
Riga, Radisson SAS
2009
InformationInformation
isis
POWERPOWER
SisypheanSisyphean challenge ?challenge ?
"Never, never, never quit.“
Winston Churchill
TodayToday’’ss AgendaAgenda
1. Medical Collocations
2. Medical vs. Colloquial English
3. Abbreviations
4. Internet resources / cultural context
Medical Medical CollocationsCollocations
vomiting reflexover the counter drug
intermittent claudicationdraping
surgical accesstemporary pacing
paroxysmal vertigourinary incontinence
habitual abortionplain abdominal X-ray
elective surgerychild-bearing age
muscle bulkfasting glucose
vemšanas reflekssbezrecepšu medikaments
mijklibošana
pacienta sagatavošana operācijai
pārklājot ėermeĦa daĜas ar steriliem
pārklājiem
operācijas pieejapagaidu mākslīgais sirds ritms
pēkšĦi reiboĦiurīna nesaturēšana
ieraduma abortsVēdera dobuma pārskata
rentgenogramma
plānveida ėirurăijareproduktīvais vecums
muskuĜu kūlītisglikozes līmenis tukšā dūšā
Medical Medical vsvs. . ColloquialColloquial EnglishEnglish
A variety of Accents!A variety of Accents!
Liverpool (Scouse)
•East London (Cockney)
•London 100 immigrant
Languages (1979)
Newcastle (Geordie)
East AnglianBirmingham (Brummie)
Yorkshire
Cornish (3,500)
Scotland
1% speak Gaelic (2001)
Wales
20% Welsh
Northern Ireland
7% of the population speak Irish
England
Lancashire
‘Queens English’ (Spoken by 2%)
In the UK 70%
of the population
speak English
monolingually
Punjabi is used
by 1.3 million
people in the UK
Good CommunicationGood Communication
• Improves patient care
• Creates a good rapport (relationship) with your patient
• Use effective body language (eye contact)
• Allow enough consultation time
• Listen well
• The GMC & NMC ‘Code of Conduct’ states:
““always use language that your patient always use language that your patient understandsunderstands”” - Avoid medical jargon
What the Patient says!What the Patient says!• “Ooh, I’ve got really bad guts Dr!”
= “I‘ve got pain in my abdomen”
• “I’ve been puking for 2 days!”
= “I’ve been vomiting for 2 days”
• “I broke my collar bone 6 months ago”
= “I broke my clavicle…..”
• “I’m having trouble down below!”
= “I’m having trouble with my genitals”
• “I’ve been bleeding from my back passage”
= “I’ve been bleeding from my anus”
What the Dr can say!What the Dr can say!
• Instead of asking “please inhale”
Say “please breathe in or a take a deep breath”
• Instead of “administering an intra-venous Infusion”
Give your patient “a drip”
• Instead of asking “where does the pain radiate?”
Ask “does the pain go anywhere else?”
• Instead of saying “you need an endoscope”
Say “we need to pass a tube with a camera into your stomach”
AnatomicalAnatomical ColloquialismsColloquialisms
1. Abdomen = ”belly, tummy, stomach, guts”
2. Umbilicus = ”navel, belly button, tummy button”
3. Axilla = ”arm-pit”
4. Sternum = ”breast-bone”
5. Anus = ”back passage, bum, hole”
6. Larynx = ”voice box”
7. Trachea = ”wind pipe”
Symptom Symptom ColloquialismsColloquialisms
• Generally feeling ill
= ”Feel sick, not well, poorly”
• Diarrhoea
= ”loose stools, the runs/trots, the shits!”
• Pain
= ”it’s sore, it hurts, it aches, it’s killing me!”
• Vomiting
= ”puking, throwing up, unable to keepanything down”
Symptom Symptom ColloquialismsColloquialisms
• To be febrile
= ”a fever/temperature, burning up”
• Nasal discharge
= ”snotty nose or runny nose”
• Menstruation
= ”period, time of the month”
• Flatulence
= ”farting, passing wind”
SymptomsSymptoms
tachycardia: fast heart rate
palpitations: sensation of pounding, beating, fluttering
paraesthesia: pins and needles
oedema: swelling
intermittent claudication: pain in legs whilst walking
rhinitis: running nose
nasal discharge: snuffles, snotty nose
glossitis: a sore tongue
menorrhagia: heavy periods
Things which are Taboo!Things which are Taboo!Things that we are embarrassed to talk about Things that we are embarrassed to talk about
usually have lots of colloquial phrasesusually have lots of colloquial phrases
• Death
“kick the bucket, snuff it, pass away, go to rose cottage, meet your maker, pop your clogs, etc”
• Cancer
“the big c, a tumour, a lump, a growth, or something serious”
• Female Genitals
”down below, private parts, front passage”
MedicalMedical AbbreviationsAbbreviations
HowHow many ?many ?
50505050
950950950950
250250250250
3250325032503250
7250 7250 7250 7250
1250125012501250
350350350350
750750750750
550550550550
450450450450
5 5 5 5
tds, qds, qid, bid, od, om, ac, pc, nocte, stat, NPO
FOBT, ABG, ESR, CXR, FBC, MSU, U & E, C&S, FBS, OGTT,
HO, CC, HPI, s/b, w/o, d/c, c/o, DOE, DOA, NAD, WNL,
TTA (TTO), NRM, VSS , AAO, ADR, BOM,
FUO, FTT, DVT, LOC , PUD, VV, AI, DM, COPD, ACS,
TKR, AKA, D&C, LP, TAH , UTI, AAD, IBS
RTW, TBC, TCI,
Internet Internet ResourcesResources
Last year medical student, medical blogger at
Scienceroll.com and microblogger at
Twitter.com/Berci. I will start PhD in personalized
genetics this year. I also give slideshows about web
2.0's impact on medical education and healthcare. I try
to ease the work of physicians and scientists by
recommending useful tools and sites and by
presenting them the new world of web 2.0.
I'm the founder of the first medical web 2.0 guidance
service at Webicina.com and I launched the first
university credit course for medical students that
focuses on web 2.0 and medicine
(med20course.wordpress.com)
I've given lectures at several clinics and departments
at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of
Debrecen. I gave presentations at the Medicine Meets
Virtual Reality Conference (Long Beach, CA in 2008 and
2009); at the University of Yale, School of Medicine, at
the centre of World Health Organization, at the
Medicine 2.0 Congress in Toronto or at the clinics of
Greenwich, among others.
SpecialtiesCreating web 2.0 based medical/scientific sites,
blogging, organizing information, communication and
e-education.
www.scienceroll.com
ThankThank YouYou!!
AnyAny QuestionsQuestions??