Let’s talk about going to the doctor’s office. To start out this post I have a matching exercise for you (with the answers at the end of the post).  Look at this vocabulary that is commonly used in a doctor’s office visit and see if you can match it with the correct meanings.

1. prescription                a. time to see or meet the doctor
2. appointment               b. continuous pain that may not be too serious
3. symptoms                   c. note from a doctor to get medication from a pharmacist
4. antibiotics                   d. strong uncomfortable feeling
5. pain                            e. introducing liquid into the body with a needle
6. ache                           f. a type of medication/drug that kills bacteria
7. shot/injection              g. a physical/mental feature that indicates something is wrong

When visiting the doctor’s office in the United States a person needs to make an appointment.  You cannot just show up and wait to be seen.  Sometimes an appointment needs to be made months in advance, but if there is an emergency a person can call ahead to the doctor’s office to see if the doctor has time to see them.  If the doctor cannot see the person, he or she will have to go to the Emergency Room at a hospital or clinic to be seen.  People do not make appointments to go to the Emergency Room.  This is where they go if they have a medical problem and do not have an appointment to meet with their usual doctor.

Whether a person has a regular appointment to see a doctor or if a person has to go to the emergency room the doctor (or nurse) is going to ask the patient about why he or she have come in.  This is what a conversation with a doctor (or nurse) might look like:

Doctor: Hello Sara, what seems to be the problem today?
Sarah: Well, I have had very bad headache for a number of days.
Doctor: Have you taken any medication for the pain, like aspirin?
Sarah: Yes, but the pain doesn’t go away.
Doctor: Have you hit your head on anything recently?
Sarah: Yes, I fell off my horse while riding earlier this week.
Doctor: Do you have any other symptoms that I should know about? Does anything else on your body hurt?
Sarah: No just the persistent headache.
Doctor: Okay, well I’d like to take a closer look at what is going on in your head. I will schedule you for an MRI.
Sarah: Can you give me anything for the pain?
Doctor: Yes, I’ll write you a prescription for a stronger painkiller until we get the MRI* results.

I have been using the vocabulary introduced above throughout my post today.  I hope this has helped you see how it is used in context and how you might use it in an interaction with a doctor.  The answers to the matching exercise are below.  Feel free to change your responses to the matching before looking at the answers.

*MRI = Magnetic Resonance Imaging = a medical imaging technique for looking at the brain

Answer to the matching exercise above:

1-c; 2-a; 3-g; 4-f; 5-d; 6-b; 7-e