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Perfect Phrases for ESL Everyday Situations

CHAPTER   image
Making and Keeping a Medical Appointment
When you need to have medical care, even for something minor, it is important to do your homework. To get recommendations, check with neighbors, colleagues (if you are working), or a referral service at a local hospital. The service will give you a few referrals and information about the doctors’ education and training.
If you go to one doctor and don’t feel comfortable with that doctor or with his or her office staff, you then have other choices. You are the consumer, the patient.
Medical professionals want to help you, and you have to help them to help you by giving them all the information you can. Bring all your past medical records (translated if possible), x-rays/films, medical test results, list of medications you are taking, including vitamins, and anything else you think can help explain your concerns. Supply whatever will help the doctor understand your issues and be able to help you better. Also, write down all your questions, ask them, and get them answered.
When you call to make an appointment with a doctor, the telephone may be picked up by voice mail. Or you may reach the receptionist or a nurse without going into a voice mail system.
Phrases You May Hear on Voice Mail When You Call a Doctor’s Office
image    If this is an emergency, hang up the phone and call 9-1-1.
image    If you want to___________
image    make an appointment,
image    change or cancel an existing appointment,
image    discuss billing,
image    have insurance questions addressed,
image    get test results,
image    hear office hours,
image    get directions to our office,
image    speak to the receptionist,
image    speak with a nurse,
image    press___________(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 0 for operator).
Phrases You May Hear When a Person Answers the Telephone
image    Good morning. Dr. Smith’s office.
image    How may I___________(help, assist, be of service to) you?
image    Is this an emergency?
image    Is this a___________(sick visit, well visit, first visit, regular appointment, checkup)?
image    Have you been to this office before? When?
image    Could you please hold on for one moment?
image    Could you kindly wait a minute? I’ll find a nurse for you.
image    Could you please call back during office hours?
image    Who recommended___________(us, this office, Dr. ___________) to you? Is he/she a patient?
image    What___________(health, medical, supplemental) insurance do you have?
image    What___________(is the problem, seems to be the issue, is bothering you, is wrong, is troubling you)?
image    What is the matter?
image    I’m sorry,___________ I didn’t (understand, get that, catch what you said). Could you please___________ (repeat, speak more slowly, say that again, spell that for me, spell that name again)?
Phrases You May Hear When Making an Appointment
image    The doctor can see you___________ (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, tomorrow, next week).
image    What time works best for you?
image    Is morning or afternoon better?
image    Is___________(first thing in the morning, after lunch, 9:30 a.m., 2 p.m., the first appointment, the last appointment of the day) good for you?
image    Please bring___________(your insurance card, your insurance information, your medical history, a photo ID, your birth certificate, your passport, a current green card).
image    Please bring an adult who speaks your language and English.
Pronunciation: Days of the Week
Monday /Munday/
Tuesday /Toozday/
Wednesday /Wenzday/
Thursday /Therzday/
Friday /Fryday/
Saturday /Saterday/
Sunday /Sunday/
Phrases to Say on the Telephone When Making a Doctor’s Appointment
image    Is Dr. Smith available next week?
image    Evenings work better for me.
image    Yes, I can make that time.
image    No, it’s not urgent, just a checkup.
image    Does___________(the doctor, the nurse, the receptionist, someone in the office) speak___________(Spanish, French, Japanese, Portuguese, my language)?
image    Do I need to___________(bring, find, hire)___________ (an interpreter, a friend, someone who speaks my language and English)?
image    I prefer to be examined by a female doctor.
Writing Dates in the United States
When the doctor’s office gives you an appointment, remember how dates are written in the United States: the month first, the day next, and the year last. The 23rd day of April in the year 2011 could be written April 23, 2011, or 4/23/11. In many other countries, this date would be written with the day before the month: 23 April 2011 or 23/4/11.
Describing Aches and Pains
There are five parts of the body in which the word ache (pronounced /ake/) can be attached as part of the word:
image    A backache
image    An earache (an because ear begins with a vowel [a, e, i, o, u]) ▪ A headache
image    A stomachache (pronounced /stomikake/)—children also call it a bellyache or tummy ache
image    A toothache
You can also say, “I have a pain in my___________(back, ear, head, stomach, tooth).” You may also say, “I have a sore ___________(back, ear, head, stomach, tooth).” Another way to say this is, “My___________(back, ear, head, stomach, tooth) hurts.”
Some ailments or illnesses are used with a or the. For example, say, “I have a sore throat”; “I have a fever”; “I have a temperature”; “He has a cold”; “She has the flu.”
Phrases to Say in the Doctor’s Office or When Describing an Ailment
image    Where should I wait for the doctor?
image    Do I need to fill out a new-patient form?
image    I have a/an/the___________.
image    stomachache
image    headache
image    backache
image    toothache
image    earache
image    sore throat
image    fever
image    cold
image    flu
image    Should I stay in the___________(waiting room, examination room, doctor’s office)?
image    I have a___________(pain, lump) in my___________ (shoulder, hip, knee, back, stomach, toe).
image    I have a___________(sore, bruise, rash) on my ___________(chest, back, arm, leg, stomach).
image    This has been___________(bothering me, hurting, aching, annoying me) for___________(a few days, a week, a couple of weeks).
Phrases for Clarifying a Diagnosis
image    What is the diagnosis?
image    What is my problem?
image    What is (wrong with me, the matter with me)?
image    What is the prognosis?
image    What do I need to do?
image    What is this condition called?
image    What is the next step?
image    Where does this come from?
image    What should I do to keep this condition under control?
image    Do you have any___________(written information, pamphlets) about this condition?
image    Do you have any sample medications for this condition?
image    Are there any side effects with this medication?
image    Are there interactions with other drugs I’m taking?
image    Do I need to get an appointment with a specialist?
image    Do I need to get___________(a second opinion, another opinion)?
image    Please, could you___________(say that again, explain that more slowly)?
image    Please, could you give me more information?
image    I am nervous about this.
image    I am unfamiliar with this condition.
image    I am not clear about what you are saying.
image    I am confused.
image    I am not fluent in English. Please repeat what you said.
Phrases You May Hear from the Doctor or Nurse
image    What medications are you taking?
image    Are you allergic to___________(any medications, any foods, any materials like latex or adhesive)?
image    Do you have any allergies?
image    Are you pregnant?
image    Do you have___________(an advance directive, a living will, a power of attorney)?
image    Who is your next of kin?
image    Please___________(take, have the pharmacy fill) this prescription.
image    Here are some samples of the medication I___________ (want you to take, have prescribed for you, think will help you, feel will relieve your symptoms).
image    Please call the office to tell me/us how the medication is working.
image    Please call the office to make a follow-up appointment.
image    See the receptionist___________(before you leave, on the way out, at the desk) to___________(make a follow-up appointment, pick up sample medication to get started, pay your co-pay).
Idioms and Other Vocabulary
A few: not many of something you can count
Addressed: paid attention to, answered
Adhesive: a sticky substance used to make some medical products (bandages)
Advance directive ( also living will): a legal paper that details your wishes if you should become unable to make serious medical decisions
Allergic: becoming sick when using a particular medicine, eating a particular food, or using a particular product
Allergies: reactions you have when exposed to a substance you are allergic to
Annoying: making you feel uncomfortable
Available: freed up to do one’s job/work
Bothering: disturbing, annoying, hurting
Bruise: mark or discoloration on the skin
Call back during office hours: make this call again when the office is open
Catch: hear or understand
Check with: get information from
Choices: places where you feel more comfortable or better helped
Colleagues: people you work with
Concerns: what is worrying or bothering you
Condition: disease or medical issue
Confused: not clear about, don’t understand
Consumer: person who uses the services
Co-pay: the patient’s/insured’s share of the cost of the appointment
Diagnosis: decision about what is wrong or what the medical problem is
Do your homework: prepare, get ready
Examination room: room where the doctor looks at and talks to you about your medical issues
Explain: make clear
Feel comfortable: think this is the place for you
Fever: a higher than normal (98.6°F in the U.S.) temperature
Follow-up appointment: another appointment after this one
Get started: to begin
Get that: understand that, hear that
Hang up: end the phone call
Hire: give paid employment to
Hold on: don’t hang up the telephone
Interactions: effects of one medication on another medication
Issues: problems
Latex: a substance used in making doctors’ rubber examination gloves
Living will: (see Advance directive)
Lump: small hard area under the skin
Medical professionals: people trained in the field of medicine, including doctors, nurses, and other people involved in medical care
Minor: relatively unimportant
Nervous: worried about, not relaxed
Next of kin: closest living relative(s)
Next step: the thing to do after this
Office staff: nurses, technicians, receptionists, people who work in doctors’ offices
Pamphlets: Folded or stapled paper with brief information
Past medical records: reports from doctors and hospitals in your country
Patient: a person who gets medical treatment
Picked up: answered the telephone
Power of attorney: written document giving authority to a person you have chosen to sign legal papers for you if you become unable to do so yourself
Prescription: form written by a doctor ordering medication from a pharmacy
Prognosis: what the doctor predicts will happen in the future with this disease or illness
Rash: reddish discoloration of the skin
Receptionist: a person who has the job to welcome people who come to the doctor’s office
Recommendations: people saying you should go to or use this doctor
Referral service: service to help people select or choose doctors or other medical services
Relieve: to ease pain or problems
Sample medications (also samples): free medication a doctor can give you until you get to a pharmacy with your prescription (These are often given to the doctor by pharmaceutical reps—people who represent the drug companies.)
Second opinion: advice of another doctor about this issue
Sick visit: doctor’s visit when you are sick (ill) and need fast care
Side effects: negative reactions from a drug that is helping make your sickness better
Specialist: a doctor who treats only a certain disease or area of the body
Spell: say the letters of a word in order
Sore throat: pain and redness in the throat (passageway in back of the mouth leading to the stomach)
Supplemental: added to other, regular insurance
Supply: give, offer
Symptoms: physical issues that accompany an illness or injury
The matter: wrong, the problem
Under control: taken care of, being treated with success
Unfamiliar: new, different, not what you know
Waiting room: room where patients wait to be called in to see the doctor
Well visit: doctor’s visit when you are not sick (ill) to check on your general health
What is the matter? (sounds like /whatsamata/): What’s wrong?
Whatever: anything you have that is needed
Where does this come from?: How did I get this problem?
Wrong: not good, not right