Message from Simon:Absence of Postings this Weekend

Dear guys, hope you are well. I am writing to apologize for the absence of postings this weekend. I managed to pull a muscle in my back early today and have had to lie down all day waiting for the pain to go away. With any luck, the pain will go away tonight and i will be back posting [and in class] tomorrow.

For those of you however who have been waiting for me to post the Powerpoint for the lecture up to the point where we finished on Wednesday [ie. the beginning of the Grammar Section] you can go here. We will continue on from where we left off next Monday.

For now, be good and happy,

best wishes,

Simon

Online DictionariesMedicinePlus Dicitionary

One of the better/more useful Medical Dictionaries that can be found online is that located on the MedicinePlus website Medicine Plus is a service provided by the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the US. While you can just type the word that you would like to find, if you're not sure of the spelling, you can just type the first few letters, followed by an asterisk(*) and the dictionary will tell you the options. [p.s. as usual ceck out the rest of the MedicinePlus website for lots of useful stuff!]

Link:
MedicinePlus Dictionary

Lecture Homework:Week 4:1 The Ear

Before next class see if you can do the following activities from the textbook linked below. Please note, while this is not a compulsory activity and your work won't be checked, try and spend just a little time on it.

Exercise 2-IV:

Exercise 2-V:

Exercise 2-XI:

Exercise 2-XIII:

Medical Podcasts:John Hopkins Medicine Podcasts

A weekly podcast called John Hopkins Medicine Podcasts looking at the top medical stories of the week for people ''who want to become informed participants in their own health care'' is produced by the world famous John Hopkins School of Medicine. With Elizabeth Tracey, director of electronic media for Johns Hopkins Medicine, and Rick Lange M.D., professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins and vice chairman of medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Link:
John Hopkins Medicine Podcasts

ESL Podcasts:Pronuncian

According to the Pronuncian website, ''English pronunciation is the most neglected component of ESL, ELL, and EFL programs today. The truth is, when it comes to communication, it's not just what you say; it's how you say it''.

Pronuncian aims to bring this missing subject to the forefront, teaching you online and at your own pace how to speak with an American accent. The web site offers absolutely free access to a large number of their lessons and sounds. Check out the website and subscribe to their podcast following the link below:

Link:
Pronuncian Podcast

Lecture Extras:Pronunction Rules 's' & 'ed'

For the last two weeks we have tried to work out the 'correct' pronunciation of words ending with 'ed' and 's'. As some of you know, there are in fact rules with can help guide us in determining which particular pronunciation to use. To see a [fairly] simple summary of these rules see the posting on the Net Grammar site here.

To find out more about this you can check out the postings on the pronunciation of the 'd' ending on:

- Pronuncian podcast here.
- e Learning English Language website here.

To give yourself an online test on the 'd' ending, check out the test on the English Zone site here

Workshop Extra:Common Medical Abbreviations

As a followup to the discussion on common medical abbreviations in this week's English Workshop/Practical, you can check out the guide to 'Common Medical Abbreviations' on the Clinician's Ultimate Reference site.

As the Wikipedia entry on the subject notes, Abbreviations are used very frequently in medicine. They boost efficiency as long as they are used intelligently. The advantages of brevity should be weighed against the possibilities of crypticness (making the communication harder for others to understand) and ambiguity (having more than one possible interpretation). In other words, a smart communicator uses good shortcuts, but makes sure that other people will understand what he means. Certain medical abbreviations should be avoided to prevent mistakes.

Link:
Common Medical Abbreviations

Online Journals:Britsh Medical Journal

BMJ is a partially open access medical journal. It is among the most influential and widely read peer-reviewed general academic journals in the field of medicine in the world.

The journal is published by the BMJ Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Medical Association that also publishes 24 other journals focusing on various medical specialties. Originally called the British Medical Journal, the title was officially shortened to BMJ in 1988. [Wikipedia]

p.s. Check out the 'Print Edition' link while you search the site!

Link:
British Medical Journal

Lecture Powerpoint:Week 3: Skin

Please find below the final copy of the Powerpoint Presentation for the Week 3 Lectures on the topic of Skin. Please also find a copy of the audio for the Lecture.

Link:
Lecture Powerpoint: Week 3
Lecture Audio : Week 3

Subject Resources:Simon's Timetable

To see a copy of my weekly timetable click on the icon below.





As you will notice, my office hours are on Saturdays [9:00-11:00] , Mondays [10:00-12:00] and Wednesdays [9:00-11:00] and if you want to see me during those times, check out the staff cafeteria of the Medical College [next to the Prayer Room]. If I am not there, phone me to find out where I am.

If you want to see me outside these time [for example, on Sundays, Monday afternoons or Tuesdays ] please make an appointment. I am more than happy to see you outside class/office hours if necessary but would prefer seeing you in groups [i.e. not alone].

Lecture Extra:Medical Roots, Suffixes and Prefixes

For those of you interested in following up on the discussion on the [mostly Latin and Greek] 'roots', 'suffixes and 'prefixes' of medical terms, check out the list to be obtained on the link below to the List of medical roots, suffixes and prefixes located on the free internet encyclopedia Wikipedia. Please tell me [gently!] if you find any errors on my part in today's class!

Link:
Medical Roots, Suffixes and Prefixes

Medical Online ResourcesMedicine Online

One of the best sources for definitions of medical terms is the Dictionary that can be found on the Medicineonline.com web site. Check out the rest of the resources to be found on the site while you are there!

Link:
Medicine Online Dictionary

Subject ResourcesSubject Outline

Please find below a link to a copy of the Outline for this subject. If youhave any questions please feel free to ask.

Link:
EFM Subject Outline

Online Journals:Medical Books Review

The online Medical Books Review was founded in 2007 to provide the medical community a social networking home similar to mySpace or Facebook but targeted specifically for Medical Students and Doctors.

The vision of the founder was to provide an online space where Medical Students and Doctors could gather to share and collaborate their information and ideas about medical books.

Link:
Medical Books Review

Medical Podcasts:BBC: Health Check

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Find below a link to Health Check the BBC World Service's weekly round up of global health stories and topical issues in medicine.

Link:
Health Check

EMP Web Resources:englishmed.com

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Please find below a link to englishmed.com. An initiative of Elanguest, the site is sponsored sponsored by the European union's Leonardo Da Vinci project.

You will find thousands of exercises on the site and over 1.5 hours of spoken conversations.

Link:
englishmed.com

Workshop Powerpoint:Week 3: Taking a History 1:1

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Find below a link to final [updated] versions of the Powerpoint Presentation [P] and Audio [A] for the Practical Class / Workshop for Week 3 which was on the topic on 'Taking a History - 1'.

p.s. the audio file will need to be un-zipped. If you have problems, see me.

Link:
P/W 3: Taking a History 1:1
A/W 3: Taking a History 1:1

F.

Subject Resources:Textbook 2

The second text book for this subject will be English_in_ Medicine by Eric_Glenndining and Beverly_Holstrom. English_in_ Medicine is a course for doctors, medical students and other medical professionals who need to communicate with patients and medical colleagues. Each of the seven units focuses on one area of doctor-patient communication, from history-taking and examination to diagnosis and treatment. The course develops all four skills through a wide variety of activities. The book is available from Jaeer Book store in Jeddah. A link to the Pdf is located below.

Link:
English_in_ Medicine

Lecture Powerpoint:Week 1: Introduction

Please find below a link to the Powerpoint for the lectures for Week 1 which were related to the subject Introduction.

Lecture Powerpoint Link:
Week 2: Introduction

Online Journals:The New England Journal of Medicine

The New England Journal of Medicine (N Engl J Med or NEJM) is an English-language peer-reviewed medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It is the oldest continuously published medical journal in the world, and is the most widely read, cited, and influential general medical periodical in the world.

The NEJM was founded by Dr. John Collins Warren in 1812[ a quarterly called The New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery. For one year, 1827, it was named the New England Medical Review and Journal. In 1828, it became a weekly, and was renamed The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal; one hundred years later, it took on its present name.

It publishes editorials, papers on original research, widely-cited review articles, correspondences, case reports, and has a special section called "Images in Clinical Medicine".[Wikipedia]

Link: The New England Journal of Medicine

Subject Resources:Textbook: English for Medicine

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Designed specifically for students in the School of Medicine, Taif University by Professor Choudhary Zahid Javid of the Department of Foreign Languages,the textbook fotthis subject is English For Medicine [Part 1].

As the Preface of the book notes, the ...
... textbook is a logical outcome of a comprehensive research project carried out at College of Medicine and Medical Sciences (CMMS) by the author of this textbook during 2008 that determined the linguistic and non-linguistic needs, the academic level and the preferred learning styles of the students at CMMS.

Download:
English for Medicine

EMP Web Resources: Oxford English For Careers: Medicine / Nursing

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Below is a link to the Student's website for the Medicine 1 textbook in the Oxford English for Careers series.

While the site is linked to themes covered in the Oxford for English Careers: Medicine 1 textbook, you can use the site independently to practice your Professional Medical English listening and vocabulary.

While there, check out the student sites for the Oxford for English Careers: Nursing 1& 2:

Links:
OEC: Medicine 1 Student Site
OEC: Nursing 1 Student Site
OEC: Nursing 2 Student Site

Medical Podcasts: The Health Report

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The Health Report is a program broadcast by the Australian Broadcast Commission [A.B.C.] each week on its Radio National station

The program aims to appeal to both specialist and mainstream audiences by applying a broad definition of health, and seeing health and medicine within social, scientific and political contexts.

The Health Report is a valued information source for professionals and students in the medical and health professions, as well as attracting a sizeable audience of general listeners seeking jargon-free, easy-to-understand information and analysis on health and medical matters.

Presented by Dr Norman Swan, the program covers wide-ranging topics and issues, among them: cancer, endocrinology, epidemiology, exercise, gastroenterology, gynaecology, health education, mental health, nutrition, obstetrics, paediatrics, physiotherapy, and rheumatology.

Link: The Health Report

Message from SimonWelcome to the Blog

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This is the first posting on the Simon's Taif Medical English Page blogspot.

The primary aims of this blogspot are to:
1. let you know what is happening in the subject.
2. let you know more about me and your fellow students.
3. provide links to on-line resources [podcasts, webpages, newspapers & journals etc..] related to the themes being dealt with in the course.

As the year proceeds, more uses for the blog will emerge and you will be informed what they are as they do.

For now however, be good and happy, best wishes,

Simon