Medical care

P eople go to the doctor when they are sick or it s time for a check up. Make an appointment in advance. Appointments with a doctor are usually made by telephone. When you get to the doctor’s office, tell the nurse you name, than sit in the waiting room to see the doctor. If it is the first time you are visiting the doctor, the nurse will ask you to fill out an information form. This form will give the doctor background information and tell how to pay your bill – through an insurance company, for example. Unless previously arranged, doctor bills should be paid immediately after treatment.

The doctor might give you medicine or prescription to be filled. In the last case you go to the drugstore, give the prescription to the pharmacist who will fill it and give you the medicine. You can get medical help (care) from private doctors, clinics, or hospitals. You may be given medical help without payment if you quality to be treated at a free clinic.

Going to the dentist for a check up must be regular thing. Most people do it once a year. At that time, you also have your teeth cleaned by the dentist to prevent problems. In addition to annual check ups you may have to go to the dentist in an emergency. A broken tooth, a bad toothache or some other problem may require immediate help.

It is good for travellers to have a wallet size Medical Passport, which contains all facts concerning one’s health: emergency information, laboratory findings, X-ray reports, allergies, sensitivities to drugs, lens prescription, blood types, electrocardiograms.

Put the words into the proper order

1. Might, medicine, the doctor, you, give, to be filled, or, a prescription.

2. Must, a regular thing, for a check, going, to the dentist, be.

3. In advance, make, an appointment.

4. Hospitals, you, can, get, or, from, private doctors, medical aid, clinics, from.

5. A year, most, people, it, ones, do.

Answer the following questions:

1. What do you do when you fall ill? 2. When do you send for the doctor? 3. What does the doctor do? 4. What do you feel when you have a flu? 5. Who operates on people? 6. Why must one follow the doctor’s instructions? 7. Whom do you consult when you have a toothache (sore throat, sore eyes, a broken leg, a burn, frostbite)? 8. What do you buy at the chemist’s? 9. What does a dentist do? 10. Which doctors and diseases do you know?

Fill in the blanks with the necessary words in brackets:

1. You must take two … before each meal.(tablets, cough-mixture, gargle).

2. If you follow my … you will better tomorrow.( physician, disease, instructions).

3. When you have a toothache you must consult … (a nurse, a dentist, an oculist).

4. … operates on people.(therapeutist, psychiatrist, surgeon).

5. The doctor put down everything she found into my mother’s … .(note, patient’s file, prescription).

Read the texts and discuss the problem alcohol

Alcohol and your health

Use of alcohol is common among teenagers. It is more common than ever now that other drugs and becoming less popular. The US Department of Health and Human Services says that over half of all teenagers drink at least once a month.

The health risks of long term heavy use of alcohol are great. It is the third greatest cause of death in the USA after cancer and heart disease. Alcohol also destroys vitamins and has lots of calories.

B

ut the risk of driving after drinking may be the most important thing. Even small amounts of alcohol can dangerously affect driving ability. One out of every traffic deaths is alcohol-related.

Pregnant women who drink alcohol (even one or two glasses a day) have more miscarriages and premature babies than other women. The annual expense due to alcohol use, property damage, lost work time, health care, and insurance in the USA is 117 billion a year.

Someone who gets drunk often or who depends on alcohol to get through the day is an alcoholic. Many teenagers drink to gain a felling of importance because they think no one cares about them.