Essential skills for doctor-patient

communication
Unit one

Haifa Hussein
  You can use short and gentle questions:
Ex: Can you tell me what’s your -----?
Asking about _ Do you know your -----?

personal details
 Remove words to make questions shorter:
Ex: What’s your first name? → your first name?
-Have you any other names? → Any other names?
 * Planning

How to * General summary

Describe * Describe the location
pictures in
English? *Add details
*Speculate
Note: use present simple.
Example:
This picture shows two women in a
building, one of them is sitting next to a
reception desk and she is wearing
blue clothes. There is a computer in
front of her. The two women both look
busy to fill in a form of information and
they are talking to each other. It seems
that this building is a hospital.
How to define words
in English ?
• To define a word, you need to
follow three basic steps:
 1- Topic sentence:- writing the category which is the word belongs to.
 2- Identifying details that make the word unique in that specific category.
 3- Conclusion sentence

 EX:- to define the word “doctor”

Category he is a person who has
Details a great humanitarian job,
Conclusion which is treating patients and relieving their pain.
A doctor: is a person who has a great humanitarian job, which is
treating patients and relieving their pain.
 EX:- the definition of the word
Clavicle : it is a bone which is along
and extending between the shoulder
blade and the breast bone (sternum).
The clavicle acts as support that
holds the shoulder bone in position
to allow the arm to hang freely.
  Pulse 100 / min :- it means heart pulse rate and the normal range
for adults from 60 to 100 beats per minute.
 BP:- it means the blood pressure measurement, it is measured in
mm. Hg. ( millimeters of mercury) and 120 / 80 mm hg. Is

Medical called normal blood pressure for an adult.

Abbreviation pressure. Which can be useful in the

 JVP :- it means the measurement of jugular venous

s differentiation of heart forms and lung disease.

 CVS :- examining the cardiovascular system.
 CNS :- it means examining the Central Nervous System
which consists of the brain and spinal cord.
 NAD :- examining No Abnormality Detected.
 O/E :- On Examination.
 Present Simple
 Used with ( habits, scientific facts, in a process)
 sub+ v (s) + com. ( I have a headache.)
 Negative/sub+do/does+ not +v + com.(they don’t feel well.)
 Question/Do/Does+ sub + v + com+ ?(Does she has a pain?)
 Ex: -I get those headaches in the morning.

Present Simple Tense The pain starts in my chest and moves up to my shoulder.

& I feel better.

Present Continues Tense Present continuous

 Used with ( happening now, near future)
 Be + v. + ing
 Question / Are you taking any medication?
 Ex:- I’m having chest pains.
 I’m seeing a physiotherapist next week.
 Present perfect
 (It begins in the past and is related to the present in some way
without determining the time )
 has / have + p.p. ( My headaches have decreased)
 Negative: hasn’t / haven’t + p.p.
Present perfect  Question:- Have you seen this movie before?
& Present perfect Continues
Present perfect  (It begins in the past and continue to present completing to future with

Continues some progressive change)

 Has / have + been +v. ing (My headaches have been decreasing)
I have been working for this company for along time.
  Used with (events that took place and ended at a specific time
in the past. )
 Subject+ v. + ed + com. (Ex: the coughing became worse last
night.)
Past simple  Negative/ sub + did + not+ v. + com (Ex: the doctor didn’t
come. )
 Question/ Did + sub + v. + com. ( Ex: Did you take anything
for the pain.)
  1- The personal details about the patient and his pain
complaints which consist of the age and gender of the patient.
Getting some information about the site, severity, onset,
radiation of the pain from the patient.
Steps to write a  Note: use the past simple tense
case report
 Ex:
 A 49_ year _ man presented in A & E with chest pain. He had
the pain for three hours prior to arrival. The pain was in the
center of his chest and radiated to his left shoulder.
 (A&E): means Accident and Emergency.
  2- The history of presenting complaint of the
pain.
 Note: use the present perfect tense

Steps to write a case  Ex:

report  He has a history of chest pain on exercise.
Which has been present for the previous six
months.
  3- the patient and his family’s history diseases.
 Note: mostly we use the present perfect continues.
 Ex:
 He has been smoking approximately 20
Steps to write a case
report cigarettes a day and he is teetotal. He has
been prescribed aspirin. B- blockers for the
previous two years. His father died of a
myocardial infarction aged 65. he has been
working as a gallery attendant.

  A 49_ year _ man presented in A & E with chest pain. He had
the pain for three hours prior to arrival. The pain was in the
center of his chest and radiated to his left shoulder.
A case report  He has a history of chest pain on exercise. Which has been
present for the previous six months.
 He has been smoking approximately 20 cigarettes a day and he
is teetotal. He has been prescribed aspirin. B- blockers for the
previous two years. His father died of a myocardial infarction
aged 65. he has been working as a gallery attendant.
Good luck dear students