English for health professionals

Medical history


When a client presents himself or herself at a hospital or clinic, the staff will need to obtain a medical history. A medical history can be short or very detailed. Different health professionals may be involved in obtaining different types of information.

Objectives:

  • Request a full case medical history
  • Use the correct forms of the past tenses + prepositions to describe precise time.

Preparation activity

Review these verb tenses and practice the dialogues.

Simple Past  +

ago

HP: When did your headache start?
P: It started 2 days ago.

Present Perfect +

Since/for

HP: How long have you had this headache?
P: I have had this headache since Wednesday. (exact time)
P: I have had this headache for 2 days. (period of time)

Past Continuous +

for

HP: How long were you exercising before your headache started?
P: I was exercising for 30 minutes. (period of time)

 

Preparation activity

What do you know about this topic in English?

  Match the descriptions with the terms to better understand how to take a complete medical history.

  1. Ask the patient their address, date of birth, occupation and marital status. Personal details Presenting Complaint Drug history Family history Social personal history Patient ideas, concerns, expectations Review of symptoms
  2. Ask the patient about drugs, medications, doses, frequency of administration, compliance, allergies, and reactions. Personal details Presenting Complaint Drug history Family history Social personal history Patient ideas, concerns, expectations Review of symptoms
  3. Ask a patient to describe the pain: how strong is the pain and where is the pain located. Personal details Presenting Complaint Drug history Family history Social personal history Patient ideas, concerns, expectations Review of symptoms
  4. When taking a social personal history, a health professional may inquire about the following things: occupation, housing, personal habits, recreation, drugs, alcohol, smoking, problems at work, financial problems, who shares house, ages. Personal details Presenting Complaint Drug history Family history Social personal history Patient ideas, concerns, expectations Review of symptoms
  5. Ask the patient about: age, health, siblings, parents, causes of death in the family, illnesses. Personal details Presenting Complaint Drug history Family history Social personal history Patient ideas, concerns, expectations Review of symptoms
  6. Once you know why they want medical attention, ask about the symptoms. Encourage describing symptoms. Personal details Presenting Complaint Drug history Family history Social personal history Patient ideas, concerns, expectations Review of symptoms
  7. A health professional will often try to put a patient at ease but giving them a chance to express their own ideas and concerns as well as determining the patient expectations. Personal details Presenting Complaint Drug history Family history Social personal history Patient ideas, concerns, expectations Review of symptoms

 

Let’s Listen: Podcast

In this podcast you will hear short dialogues detailing how to ask a patient about their medical history.

Transcript Download