IELTS Energy 1489: Band 9 Vocabulary for Medical Visits
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This is an IELTS Energy Podcast, Episode 1489, Band 9 Vocabulary for Medical Visits. Welcome to the IELTS Energy Podcast from All Ears English, downloaded more than 22 million times with the IELTS whiz Aubrey Carter and Michelle Kaplan, the New York radio girl. If you are stuck with a low score, our insider method will help you get the score you need to unlock your dreams.

Get your estimated band score now with our two-minute quiz. Go to allearsenglish.com forward slash my score. There is a good chance you will be asked about health and wellness on IELTS Speaking. Today, you'll learn topic-specific vocabulary and hear band nine sample answers so you're ready for this common topic.

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hello michelle how are you i'm good aubrey i'm happy to be here how are you yes welcome to ielts energy it's always so fun when you can stop by thank you thank you thank you actually exciting because i have seen a lot of ielts speaking questions lately about doctor visits medical visits michelle when's the last time you went to the doctor um i just went like two weeks ago so you know i feel i don't know i feel like as i'm getting older there's

I have to go for more specialists. And I've been trying to, since I moved, I've been trying to get all new doctors. So I've been crossing them off the list of finding new ones. So it's been a little bit of a pain, but that's okay. How about you? Yeah, yeah, I did. I had to go to a doctor just a couple of days ago, the OBGYN, for just a checkup, right? But what's interesting is I think about in the languages I speak, right, French and Spanish,

I would not easily be able to talk about doctor visits and name these doctors. Like this is very topic specific vocabulary that we don't often talk about in a second language. So, but you will very likely be asked about it on the IELTS exam, you guys. So you need to be practicing this vocabulary. You need to talk about your recent doctor visits in English.

So today you're going to learn a ton of vocabulary for this. Here's some sample answers. And then you need to practice answering these on your own. So you're ready when you get these questions on test day. You might get what are some questions we might get, Michelle? Like how often do you visit the doctor? What do you prefer to see a general practitioner or a specialist?

Mm-hmm. Or do you have any particular preferences when choosing a doctor? There are a lot of questions on part one, part two, and then also part three, you might be asked in general about medical care in your country, right? Do you feel like

wealthy people get better access to health care or something like that, right? So you need to be ready for all of these questions. So we first want to talk about, you know, you might be asked about frequency of doctor visits. The examiner might ask how often you see a doctor, whether it's for routine checkups or specific illnesses. So just briefly some of this vocab. What is a checkup, Michelle?

Oh, so a checkup is when you usually go. It's a routine exam. Basically, you're not sick. You're not going for something specific. You're just going to have them check.

Right. It's often like an annual visit, right? Just to sort of check to make sure everything's, you know, we often go to the pediatrician for children. This is a doctor for children for a checkup just to make sure that their weight and height is correct, that they're growing correctly. Right. And then we also have annual checkups as adults.

But this is definitely something you're going to want to be able to talk about. Which checkups do you go to? Which doctors do you see for that? And you need to learn the names of common doctors or reasons you might go besides a checkup. Like, for example, back pain, if someone has arthritis, diabetes, chronic pain, all of these types of things, right? Mm-hmm.

Imagine if you were just asked, what's the last time you went to the doctor and why? And you haven't thought about how to say all these things in English. It's very specific vocabulary, right?

Yeah. Oh, definitely. And this is, I mean, this is going to take you, this is such an important topic. People are using this all the time to talk about connection. I mean, to connect with others on the IELTS exam. Just, this is going to be great for the exam, but also for affirmation.

the exam when you're connecting with people in English. Like this is just a common topic. That's such a good point. It's not just about IELTS, right? In everyday conversations, we're asking like about medical visits. We're sharing about doctor's visits for our children, for ourselves. So even after IELTS, this is going to be a great way to connect with others to be able to talk about medical visits and medical care.

Definitely. Yeah, exactly. And then you're definitely going to need to know the names of different types of doctors. You could be asked if you prefer, like that question you shared, Michelle, general practitioners or specialists, or if you have a preferred doctor. So what are some specific doctors we should learn the name of and what type of doctor is it? Yeah, sure. So one we have is cardiologists.

So this is for your heart, the heart doctor. There's also, I mean, and you can kind of look at these, you can look at the prefixes here. So cardio, right? When you think of, you might've heard when you're doing some sort of exercise, right? And you're running, running, running, you might hear that's called cardio, right? That deals with the heart. And so, yeah, cardiologist is a heart doctor. And then podiatrist is a podiatrist.

A foot doctor. Exactly. I had to see a foot doctor, a podiatrist. I had to see a podiatrist because I had to have a toenail permanently removed. You guys may have heard about this. I lost one hiking the Grand Canyon. I've had to see a podiatrist. A lot of people, if people have ingrown toenails or other kind of foot issues, they have to see a podiatrist. This is a specialist for feet. And then I mentioned a pediatrician, right? I'm sure you see pediatricians a lot, Michelle, with your children. I do. Kids doctor, right? So...

It's also good to be able to talk about preferences in choosing a doctor, right, Aubrey? Because the examiner might want to know what factors influence your choice of doctors, such as their expertise, their communication skills, or their location, right? So what would be some, I really like this piece, what are some vocabulary words that could be helpful here?

Yeah, a really good term is bedside manner. Huge. It is huge and it's such so vital in choosing a doctor that if you're asked about this, definitely refer to your doctor's bedside manner. This is band nine vocabulary. Students don't say this often. And what that means is how friendly a doctor is, how comfortable they make you feel. Some doctors could be the expert in their field.

but they're very cold or serious and don't really make you feel like everything's going to be okay. That means they have a terrible bedside manner.

Yeah, they don't make you feel heard, right? And this, I mean, I've had this so many times. And when you find one with a good bedside manner, it's like, you never want to let them go. I mean, I had a cardiologist. Unfortunately, since I moved, I don't have him anymore. But he is my favorite doctor of all time. And it was, I trusted him with the medical stuff. But of course, I don't know about that. But I know he had good qualifications, which is another key word. But his bedside manner was amazing.

A+++++, right? And I would tell him, I'm like, you are the nicest doctor I've ever had. Yes, I had a similar experience with the first podiatrist I tried to see. He was so just cold and it really hurt because you have all these nerves in your feet and

And so and he sort of made me feel like I was being really, I don't know, weak or childish. He was sort of mocking me for being in pain. And like I've had children naturally without medication. So I know I have very high pain tolerance and it really hurt. So that was terrible. So then next time I had to see a podiatrist again, I'm like, we're going with someone else. I need someone with a better bedside manner.

Right. Yeah. This is a whole topic. We could talk about this on All Ears English for a long time, actually. We should do a follow-up on All Ears English. Make sure that you're following All Ears English as well because there is so much vocabulary over on that podcast that can help you for IELTS. So make sure you're following right here, IELTS Energy and also All Ears English.

And also we have the word qualifications, right? Aubrey, so what is that about? Yeah, so this is if your doctor is qualified, right? Often I think we see a doctor and we assume they know what they're doing, they're qualified. They're a doctor. They're a doctor, right? They've got to be. But sometimes people will choose an older doctor that has more experience as opposed to like a medical student or someone who, you know, is just training. I actually just saw a doctor who was,

was sort of being supervised because she was very new, right? And I did kind of feel a little nervous, like, are you qualified? I don't know. And then we also have general health habits. You might be asked about your overall approach to health, including preventative measures that you take. So this is a lot about those annual checkups. That's all preventative medicine, right?

And we also have to think about qualifications, right, Aubrey? Exactly, right? We're thinking about someone's education, how long they've been a doctor. Sometimes we might want someone who has been practicing medicine for quite some time. So we feel like they have seen it all. They are definitely going to be able to help us. Newer doctors, I'm sure they have all of the qualifications, but do they have the experience?

However, I mean, this is a whole debate. I mean, they might, you know, they actually, it's possible that they are more up to date on some of the research, right? Maybe because they're, you know, they're still kind of super ambitious just at the beginning of their career. Maybe they're doing more, but it really could vary. I mean, I think it's really depends on the person, on the doctor.

Yeah, that's interesting to think about. And you might even get a question on IELTS part three that's like, do you prefer, you know, a doctor who has excellent qualifications or one who has more experience? Something like that. So you would need to think about your opinion and be able to talk about something like that as well. Interesting. Yeah.

Yeah. All right. And then we also are often thinking about preventative measures. This is sort of general health habits. Do you go to a doctor for checkups for preventative medicine or do you wait until you are really sick or injured to see a doctor? You might be asked about that as well. What do you do, Michelle? Oh, man. Well, a lot of the appointments that I've been working on knocking out the past year have been, you know, preventative. I would say, you know, it's important to stay up on your preventative. Yeah.

your preventative appointments, but it's hard. It's hard to motivate yourself because it's annoying. It's annoying to go to the doctor, especially if you need blood work, you have to go do that. And so I think a lot of people put off the preventative stuff, but that's where you can run into danger, right? You want to make sure that you- And this also depends on if you have healthcare, right? Growing up, my dad was an artist. We did not have healthcare. And so we never went for preventative appointments. Like we didn't go to the doctor unless our leg was broken. Yeah.

There is no matter how sick you are, you were not going to the hospital. So now I have health insurance and it's very different. Like we're going for preventative checkups and all of these things that we didn't do as a kid. So that it's interesting to think about that, too. You might be asked about, you know, the difference between health care when you were a child and now something like that, because often you get these questions to encourage you or force you to use past tense.

That is interesting. And then another thing could be about your attitude toward traditional medicine. So the examiner could explore your views on traditional medicine. You might be asked about changing health practices in your country or culture, right? Exactly. And so this term traditional medicine means sort of how medicine has always been or has been in the past. And then modern medicine would mean how it's done now. So you might need to compare the two.

Yeah. Interesting stuff. Yeah. When it comes to IELTS, don't put the examiner to sleep during your speaking test. Make your English complex, nuanced, and sophisticated so the examiner will see you as a band seven or higher student. Gain these skills and more in our brand new C1 English fluency course.

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All right, Michelle, let's dive into some sample answers. We're going to give you a part one and a part three band nine sample answer. So I'll ask you the first one, Michelle. Okay. And just give us, you know, three to five sentences like a standard part one. And then I'll have you ask me a part three question. So, okay. What do you consider when choosing a doctor?

Well, I really like to get recommendations from friends or look up reviews. So I'm looking to see what other people say about them. And for sure, for me, bedside manage...

Bedside manner, my goodness. Bedside manner is huge. I do want a doctor who is not kind of rushing me and making me feel like I just have to get through my list of questions and they don't really want to be there. So bedside manner is huge for me. But also, of course, their qualifications.

So I don't, it's not that I just want a really nice doctor who doesn't know anything. There has to be that balance in my opinion, but definitely getting recommendations, knowing that other people like this doctor, that's huge for me. Okay. This, I'm really glad that that happened with bedside manner because I want to point out for everyone listening that

Michelle's answer could still score band nine. If you sort of trip over a word, sort of stumble over a word like that, that is fine. Native speakers do that too. What you need to be able to do is recover just like Michelle did. This was a perfect high scoring answer because even though she kind of like, and then she sort of said it again and then, and then she finally got it and she had such a native way of being like, oh my goodness.

This is what you need to do, right? If you let this throw you off, if you're like bedside man, and then you finally say it right. And then you're like really stumbling and embarrassed and pausing after that, that could pull down your answer. But if you go back and listen to how Michelle recovered, this is what you need to practice doing because this will happen.

You might stumble over a word, say the wrong word and need to correct yourself. That won't necessarily pull down your scores because native speakers are also having to self-correct. We stumble over words. This happens all the time, but it's how do you correct? And then

instead of just like awkwardly moving on, say something about it. Like Michelle did. She's like, oh my goodness. Right. With make a joke or, you know, just any, just anything. Yeah. Don't hide from the mistake. You made it. We all heard it and just kind of, you're going with the flow. You got this. Exactly. Right. Don't let it,

affect your confidence and then don't let it affect your next question or how you finish the answer just like Michelle did right you can say so like wow I really stumbled over that or oh my goodness right just a funny with an interesting intonation to point out that you stumbled a little bit and then finish the answer so great job on that Michelle that was a good example of how we recover when we mess up a word it happens all the time that's right thank you so much Aubrey all right should I ask you a part three question I'm ready

All right. Are attitudes toward traditional medicine changing in your country?

Ooh, this is super interesting. I think it depends on who you talk to, right? My parents, their attitudes toward, you know, how medicine has always been and how it should be, healthcare are pretty much the same. But I am sure that students getting out of medical school today would sing a different tune. They definitely are feeling like we should be using the newest medicines, the newest technology. And in that

way, medicine's changing a ton. So it sort of depends. Not everyone's on the same page there. Hmm.

Yeah. Aubrey, I like what you did there. I like because you were talking about your parents and then you were talking about different points of view, kind of comparing them, what people might be thinking. And I liked how you said it depends, it sort of depends, things like that. Those were really, really natural. Yes. And I used some idiomatic language here. I said singing a different tune, which means thinking the same thing or a different thing or saying different things.

And then on the same page, which means we see eye to eye, we're all thinking of something the same way. So keep in mind this idiomatic language you need on IELTS speaking. It's not just for part one, right? All throughout the IELTS exam, the examiner is looking for you to use a variety of language, idioms, phrasal verbs. So practice using those, not just on part one, but also your part three answers too.

All right, Michelle, what's our takeaway here? What do our listeners need to know on testing? Well, health and wellness is a very common IELTS speaking topic. So just be ready with this topic specific vocabulary. We went over a lot of good vocab today. And then

Again, practice answering today's questions with your own answers. Give it a try. See how it goes for you. Anything else you want to add, Aubrey? Yeah, no, you're exactly right. And the other tricky thing is in your culture, people might not be really open about medical care and doctor visits.

So if you were asked on IELTS and you've never spoken about this aloud in English, maybe not even a lot in your first language because some people are very private about medical care, it might be really difficult. So definitely practice answering these aloud so that you're ready and these don't trip you up on test day. Yeah, that's a good point. All right, Aubrey, thank you so much for having me today. Love getting to visit on IELTS. And guys, thank you for listening. Yes, thanks, Michelle. Thanks for joining me. We'll see you next time.

All right. Bye, Aubrey. Thanks for listening to IELTS Energy. Hit subscribe now and don't forget to find your estimated band score at allearsenglish.com slash my score.