ADVANCED MEDICAL VOCABULARY 💊 | Words & Phrases You Should Know

Today you're going to learn over 50  advanced medical expressions that you  

need to know for your daily life and  make sure you watch right to the end,  

because I'm going to share a PDF that  summarizes everything from this lesson.

Welcome back to JForrest English.

of course.

I'm Jennifer.

Now let's get started.

Let's talk about a patient.

A patient is a person receiving medical care.

We will all be patients at some point in our life,  

and I'm sure all of us have already  been patients on numerous occasions now.

Right now, I'm not a patient,  even though I have a doctor.

I'm not a patient because currently  I'm not receiving medical care.

This only applies when you're in the  process of receiving medical care.

There are two types of patients.

You can be an inpatient, which means you're  admitted to the hospital to receive care.

If you are an inpatient, you're going to be at  the hospital for a night, a week or even longer.

You have a hospital room and a hospital bed.

Many inpatients are in an area  of the hospital called the ICU.

This stands for the Intensive Care Unit ICU,  

and this is where inpatients go  to receive a high level of care.

You can also be an outpatient,  which most of us usually are,  

which means you receive care without  being admitted to the hospital.

You're an outpatient when you go to  the ER, which is the emergency room.

You're there to receive care for  a specific treatment or illness.

They treat you and then you leave.

You don't stay overnight at the hospital.

Now let's talk about common medical  professionals you need to know.

Of course, you already know  doctor, also known as a physician.

In North America, it's more common to simply  say doctor, but it means the same thing.

Most of us have a GP which stands  for a General practitioner.

This is a Doctor Who treats  a wide range of issues.

So you can go to your GP because  you have a pain in your back,  

or because you have a cold or a  throat infection or an eye issue.

A wide range of issues you can go to your GP.

A surgeon is of course a  Doctor Who performs surgery.

There are also many specialists and this is a  Doctor Who focuses on one specific medical area.

A cardiologist focuses on your heart.

A dermatologist focuses on your skin.

A pediatrician focuses on  children, and in North America,  

whenever you go to a pediatrician, at  the end they always give you a sucker  

because kids are always scared of going to the  pediatrician which is a doctor for children.

So they treat you with a sucker or a small  treat after an optometrist focuses on your eyes.

If you wear glasses, you  frequently go to your optometrist.

A dentist, of course, focuses on  oral health and your teeth and OBGYN.

I have no idea what this stands for.

I know it's a very long word, but  everyone just says OBGYN and OBGYN is  

a doctor specifically for women when you're  pregnant or to discuss reproductive issues.

An anesthesiologist.

Don't let this spelling confuse you.

Native speakers have difficult with the  pronunciation of this anesthesiologist.

Anesthesiologist An anesthesiologist administers  

anesthesia, which is what makes  you go unconscious before surgery.

They also monitor you during surgery.

A radiologist does the X-rays, CT scans, and Mris.

A psychiatrist focuses on your  mind and mental disorders.

Fun fact, both of my neighbors are doctors.

One is a GP and the other is a psychiatrist.

So if I need any help both  physically and mentally, I'm covered.

And an ENT stands for ear, nose and throat.

So that Doctor and ENT focuses on those  three things, ear, nose and throat.

There are more specialists,  but these are the most common.

Of course, nurses are just  as important as doctors.

You can be a registered nurse an RN.

This means you have a nursing degree and you have  

a license in the specific  area where you or a nurse.

You can also be a nurse practitioner, an  NP, which means you have more advanced  

training and you can diagnose and  treat specific medical conditions.

Let's talk about a routine checkup.

This is something that all of us do,  hopefully every six months or one year.

And this is when you see your  GP, your General practitioner,  

just to review your overall health so  you don't have a specific medical issue.

It's just a routine appointment.

We call that a checkup.

A routine checkup.

During that routine checkup, your VP General  practitioner is going to examine your vital signs.

Your vital signs include your temperature,  your heart rate, and your blood pressure.

Now you can also discuss any  specific medical issues that  

you're having with your GP  during the routine checkup.

Of course, you can schedule an appointment at  a separate time for a specific medical issue.

If you are discussing a specific  medical concern or issue with your GP,  

it's possible that they'll  refer you to a specialist.

For example, your GP could say  I'm going to refer you to an ENT.

Remember, that's ear, nose and throat.

That's what the doctor specializes in.

When you see the specialist, or  even when you're with your GP,  

you're going to talk about your symptoms.

A symptom is any feeling of illness  that you're currently having or that  

you've had in the past that you want to  discuss with your GP or the specialist.

And when you're talking to the  doctor, one of the very first  

things they'll say is what are your  symptoms, what are your symptoms?

And then you simply tell the doctor what's  wrong, what you're feeling that isn't right.

For example, I have a lot of back pain.

My left arm is sore.

My feet are numb, which means  you can't feel your feet.

If they're numb, you can't feel them.

My vision is blurry, which  means you can't see very well.

Or you could say I feel nauseous.

Nauseous.

That's the feeling you get when  you're on a roller coaster.

I feel nauseous.

Those are just some symptoms  you may be experiencing.

You can experience or have a symptom.

There are of course many, many other symptoms that  

you could have and that you would  discuss with your GP or specialist.

After listening to your symptoms, the doctor  might want to do some diagnostic tests.

These are tests or an exam to  determine the existence or the  

absence of a specific medical  condition, disease or illness.

Common examples of diagnostic tests  are an MRI, an X-ray, or a CT scan.

After these diagnostic tests,  the doctor will have a diagnosis,  

which is a judge judgment about what  the illness or medical problem is.

Then you can discuss the treatment options.

These are the different courses  of action that you can take to  

address the medical issue or the  different treatments available.

If the treatment option includes medication, well  then the doctor will write you a prescription.

A prescription is a written order,  or in our modern world most likely  

an electronic order for a specific medical  treatment like a drug or a specific pill.

You can take your prescription to a  pharmacy because at the pharmacy of  

course they'll be a pharmacist and  a pharmacist fills the prescription,  

which just means they provide you with  the medical treatment on the prescription.

It will tell you what the dosage is and  this is information the pharmacist needs.

The dosage is the amount or quantity of the  medical treatment, like a specific drug.

So how much of that drug are you  getting and what is the quantity  

of the active drug in each pill that you get?

That's the dosage.

The pharmacist will also  talk about any side effects,  

so the side effects of a  specific medical treatment.

Those are the unintended consequences.

So if you take a pill, it might cause headaches,  

but it's trying to treat your sore  arm, but then it causes a headache.

So that's the side effect of the pill.

Any unintended consequences or adverse  reactions, those are the side effects.

And then later you can schedule a follow up  appointment with your GP or specialist to discuss  

if your symptoms have been relieved at all, if  the course of action the treatment is working,  

if there needs to be any changes to  the dosage, a different prescription.

You can discuss all of that with your GP  or specialist at a follow up appointment.

And now you have over 50 advanced medical  expressions that you can use for your daily life.

Of course, we discussed a lot in this video,  

so that's why I'm providing  you with the free lesson PDF.

You can look in the description to  download the PDF so you can review  

everything we discussed in this lesson  and make sure you like this video,  

share it with your friends and of course subscribe  so you're notified every time I post a new lesson.

And you can also get this free  speaking guide where I share 6  

tips on how to English fluently and confidently.

You can click here to download it or  look for the link in the description.

And why don't you keep improving your  vocabulary with this lesson right now?