TEMA 4. READING AND WRITING.

SUBTEMA 4.1. In and around the hospital.

Reading and vocabuLaRy

 Some hospitals specialize in particular conditions like cancer or psychiatric illness. Other hospitals specialize in particular types of patients like geriatrics, children or the terminally ill. However, the best known type of hospital is the general hospital which deals with almost everything, has ambulance crews and beds for both intensive care and long stay.

A big general hospital has many different specialist departments. Identifying departments can be confusing because different hospitals use different names for the same thing. For example, one hospital may have a ‘children’s unit’ which a different hospital calls ‘Paediatrics’. ‘Accident and Emergency’ (A&E) in one hospital is called ‘Casualty’ in another.

There are many other examples. The department that specializes in heart problems, is sometimes called ‘Coronary Care’. Others call it ‘Cardiology’ or ‘Cardiovascular medicine’. Nephrology, the department that treats illnesses of the kidney is sometimes called ‘the Renal Unit’. Gastroenterology (digestive system) is sometimes ‘the Department of Hepatology’.

Hospital staff often use abbreviations for departments. For example, they refer to ‘Obs and Gynae’. This is a department combining Obstetrics (pregnancy), and Gynaecology (women’s reproductive organs). They call Otolaryngology, ‘ENT’ (ears, nose & throat), mostly because it is much easier to say.

Comprehension

a What three types of hospitals are mentioned in the text?

specialize in particular conditions like cancer or psychiatric illness. Other hospitals specialize in particular types of patients like geriatrics, children or the terminally ill.

b Which is the most common type of hospital?

the general hospital which deals with almost everything

c Why are hospital department names confusing?

because different hospitals use different names for the same thing

d Which two departments mentioned in the text, deal with the gastrointestinal tract?

Gastroenterology (digestive system) is sometimes ‘the Department of Hepatology’

e How many departments is ‘Obs & Gynae’?

one departments

f What is a common name for the Otolaryngology Department?

‘ENT’