Increase your vocabulary:

protection	[prq'tekSn]—	захист ахист
to insure	[In'Suq]	забезпечувати
qualified	['kwPlIfaId]	кваліфікований
to provide	[prq'vaId]	забезпечувати
to fall ill (fell, fallen)	[fO:l]	захворіти
local	['lqukl]—	місцевий
to call in	[kO:l]	викликати
condition	[kqn'dISn]—	стан
complaint	[kqm'pleInt]	скарга
stethoscope	['steTqskqup]—	стетоскоп
to measure	['mFZq]	вимірювати
findings	['faIndINz]	дані
to administer	[qd'mInIstq']	призначати
proper	['prOpq']	відповідний
call	[kO:l]	виклик
sick	[sIk]	хворий
definite	['defInIt]	певний
to fill in	[fIl]	заповнювати
course	[kO:s]	перебіг хвороби
change	['CeInG]	зміна
periodical	[,pIqrI'PdIkl]—	періодичний
to prevent	[prI'vent]	запобігати
to cure	[kjuq']	виліковувати

Citizens of Ukraine have the right to *health protection. This right is insured by qualified medical care provided by state health institutions. One of such medical institutions is the polyclinic. If a person falls ill he will ring up to his local polyclinic and call in a doctor. When his condition isn’t very poor and he has no high temperature he goes to the polyclinic to his district therapist. All local physicians have their *consulting hours at the polyclinic.

During the medical examination a physician usually asks the patient about his complaints. *According to them he carries on *physical examination. The doctor applies the stethoscope to the patient’s chest and listens to his lungs and heart. He measures his blood pressure, asks the patient to take the temperature. The laboratory findings help the physician to make a correct diagnosis and administer a proper treatment. To be sure of diagnosis the doctor sometimes directs the patient to be X-rayed.

Local physicians go to the calls to examine those patients who are seriously ill. Such sick personsиreceive a *sick leave at the *Trade Union expense. They usually follow a *bed regimen. If necessary the doctor directs them to the *in-patient department for treatment.

Any physician of the polyclinic knows his patients very well because he treats only a definite number of patients. At the local polyclinic every patient has a personal patient’s card which is filled in by his district therapist. The diagnosis of the disease, the administrations, the cause of the disease, the changes in the patient’s condition are written down in the card.

At polyclinics periodical medical examinations are carried on because they help *to nip a disease in the bud. It is easier to prevent the disease than to cure it.

Notes:

* health protection – охорона здоров’я

* consulting hours – години прийому

* according to – згідно з

* physical examination – медичне обстеження

* sick-leave – лікарняний лист

* the Trade Union - ["treid 'jHnIqn]—профспілка рофспілка

* at the expense – [Iks'pens] за рахунок

* a bed regimen - ['reGImqn]—постільний режим

* in-patient department – стаціонарне відділення

* to nip in the bud – [bAd] знищити в корені, ліквідувати

Questions about the text:

1. What is a polyclinic?

2. When does a person go to the polyclinic?

3. How does a physician carry on the medical examination?

4. What findings help the doctor to make a correct diagnosis?

5. What patients do the district doctors examine at home?

6. Why does any physician of the polyclinic know his patients very well?

7. What data are written down in the personal patient’s card?

8. Who fills in personal patient’s card?

9. Why are periodical medical examinations carried on at polyclinics?

Summary

In Ukraine there are many medical institutions to protect the health of people. One of them is the policlinic. If a person falls ill he goes to the polyclinic to his district doctor. The district doctor carries out physical examination. He sends the patient to the laboratory to make analysis. The laboratory findings help the doctor to make a correct diagnosis. Sometimes the doctor directs the patient to be X-rayed. At the district polyclinic every patient has his personal card. At polyclinics periodical medical examinations are made. They help to prevent many diseases.

THE AMBULANCE DOCTOR