8. Allied health professionals PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH IN USE FOR MEDICINE

PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH IN USE FOR MEDICINE

8. Allied health professionals

A	Community health The health of the community depends on a large number of people other than medical practitioners and nurses. These can be grouped under the heading of allied health professionals. They include the following: ·         Physiotherapists (physios) help people to move by getting them to do exercises or by treating their body with heat or massage – treatment by manipulating muscles and joints with the hands. ·         Occupational therapists (OTs) help people with a disability to perform tasks at home and at work. A disability is a physical or mental condition that makes it difficult to live normally, for example blindness or deafness. ·         Social workers help people to solve their social problems – for example poor housing or unemployment – or family problems. ·         Chiropodists, also known as podiatrists, treat conditions affecting the feet.
B	Technicians There are numerous technicians – people who work with scientific equipment – such as radiographers, who are known as X-ray technicians. Ambulance technicians work in the emergency medicine service. An ambulance technician with more advanced qualifications is called a paramedic.
C	Prosthetists and orthotists Prosthetists and orthotists provide care for anyone who needs an artificial limb, (a prosthesis), or a device to support or control part of the body (an orthosis). They also advise on rehabilitation – helping patients return to normal life and work after treatment. Prosthetists provide artificial replacements for patients who have had an amputation or were born without a limb. Orthotists provide a range of splints and other devices to aid movement, correct deformity from an abnormal development of part of the body, for example club foot (talipes), and relieve pain.
D	Opticians Opticians test eyesight and prescribe glasses – also known as spectacles – and contact lenses, when necessary. The examination includes measuring intraocular pressure- the pressure of fluid inside the eye – and examining the retina. If the optician suspects an eye disease, such as glaucoma, they refer the patient to their GP for treatment. The GP may then refer the patient to an ophthalmologist, a doctor who specializes in diseases of the eye.

8.1	Make word combination using a word from each box. Look at A, B, C and D opposite to help you.
8.2	Which allied health professionals could best help the following people? Look at A, B, C, and D opposite to help you. 1 a young woman unmarried woman who has just had a baby. 2 a woman who is having difficulty using her right arm following a fracture. 3 someone needs glasses. 4 an elderly woman sho has had a below knee amputation. 5 a man whose wife has Alzheimer’s disease. 6 a man with fungal infection of his feet
8.3	Complete the texts. Look A and C opposite to help you. A prosthetist works with patients of all ages as a member of a clinical team, based at a large hospital. The patients may need a prosthesis as the result of an accident, or (1)_______________ following a disease such as diabetes. Alternatively they may have been born without (2)_______________. Orthotists work alongside doctors, nurses,
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