Olá! Welcome back.
In our first lesson, we built a foundation by focusing on the English pronunciation of anatomical terms. Today, we'll take the next logical step and move from anatomy to clinical practice. You'll learn how to use English to describe what a patient is experiencing.
This lesson directly addresses the learning outcome: Describe common symptoms and patient complaints using standard English terminology. We'll cover vocabulary that is useful in any clinical setting and then focus on terms particularly relevant to your work in pre-hospital and emergency care (APH).
This skill is essential for taking a patient's history, understanding their chief complaint, and communicating with colleagues—all core components of your goal to achieve professional fluency.
1. The Language of Symptoms: Building Your Vocabulary
Before we analyze specific scenarios, let's establish a core vocabulary for describing symptoms. As a physician, you intuitively understand concepts like onset, duration, and quality of pain. Our goal is to equip you with the precise English words for these concepts.
The following text provides a comprehensive overview of how to categorize and describe common symptoms.
Common Symptoms and How to Describe Them in English
Please read this guide from 3D-Universal. It's an excellent starting point because it organizes symptoms into logical categories and introduces essential vocabulary for describing their characteristics.
First, read the section 'Key Vocabulary for Symptom Description' to learn terms like 'acute', 'chronic', 'persistent', and 'onset'. Then, review the section 'Common Symptoms and Useful Phrases', paying close attention to the descriptive words for pain, cough, and shortness of breath.
To summarize and expand on what you've just read, here is a table of essential descriptive terms. These are the words you will use to add detail and precision to a patient's complaint.
| Symptom Category | Descriptive Terms (Quality & Character) |
|---|---|
| Pain | dull ache, sharp, stabbing, throbbing, burning, cramping, crushing, pressure-like |
| Respiratory | shortness of breath, wheezing, dry cough, productive/wet cough, persistent cough |
| Neurological | dizziness, vertigo (spinning sensation), numbness, tingling (pins and needles) |
| Gastrointestinal | nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, bloating, heartburn |
| General | fatigue (extreme tiredness), weakness (lack of strength), fever, chills, night sweats |
Notice the difference between fatigue (a feeling of exhaustion) and weakness (a demonstrable loss of muscle power), a distinction that is clinically very important.
2. Structuring a Symptom History: The OPQRST Model
Having the right words is only half the battle. You also need a framework to structure the information. You are likely familiar with a mnemonic like OPQRST or a similar model for taking a patient's history. Let's look at its application in English.
Common Symptoms and How to Describe Them in English
This same resource, 'Common Symptoms and How to Describe Them in English', also explains the OPQRST model. This section will help you structure your questions and the patient's answers in a clear, universally understood format.
Read the section titled 'How to Give a Full Symptom Description'. Pay attention to the questions associated with each letter of the OPQRST mnemonic.
Let's see this in action. The following video shows a simple doctor-patient dialogue. As you watch, listen for how the doctor's questions and the patient's answers align with the OPQRST framework.
How to Talk About Illness and Medicine in English
This video from Oxford Online English provides a clear, simple dialogue that models how to ask about and describe common symptoms.
Watch the dialogue from the beginning until 01:33. Notice the phrases the patient uses, like 'I've been having these headaches', and the questions the doctor asks, such as 'How long have you been having them?' and 'Do you have a fever?'
The video also highlights a useful grammar point:
- Use the present perfect continuous (
I've been having...) for symptoms that are intermittent or have been occurring over a period. - Use the present simple (
I have...) for a stable, ongoing symptom.
This is a practical distinction that helps convey the timeline of the illness accurately.
3. Symptoms in Pre-Hospital & Emergency Care
Now, let's shift to your area of expertise: APH. The language used in emergencies is often more direct and specific. The following video, made for paramedics, discusses the signs and symptoms of several common medical emergencies. The language is authentic and directly applicable to your work.
Medical Emergencies for the Paramedic Part 1
This video from Rescue Academy is designed for paramedics and covers key symptoms in several emergency situations. The terminology is advanced and highly relevant to your professional context.
Please watch the following segments and pay attention to the specific symptom vocabulary.
A. Anaphylaxis (Anafilaxia)
- Instructions: Watch from 03:06 to 03:45 and from 04:34 to 05:00.
- Key Symptom Vocabulary:
itchy skin(pele com comichão/prurido)rash/urticaria(erupção cutânea / urticária)wheezing(pieira/chiado)upper airway swelling(edema das vias aéreas superiores)swollen lips/angioedema(lábios inchados / angioedema)
B. Substance Abuse and Overdose (Abuso de Substâncias e Overdose)
- Instructions:
- Watch for Stimulant abuse from 16:14 to 17:05.
- Watch for Opioid overdose from 31:10 to 32:40.
- Key Symptom Vocabulary:
| Emergency | Key Signs & Symptoms |
|---|---|
| Stimulant Overdose | pupillary dilation (dilatação pupilar), dysrhythmias (arritmias), hypertension, hyperthermia, seizures (convulsões), bizarre behavior (comportamento bizarro) |
| Opioid Overdose | pinpoint pupils (pupilas puntiformes), respiratory depression (depressão respiratória), shallow/inadequate breathing (respiração superficial/inadequada) |
This vocabulary is crucial for quickly and accurately describing a patient's presentation during handoffs or radio communication.
4. Application: Deconstructing a Patient History
Let's apply everything we've learned by analyzing a formal patient history. The document below is a sample "History and Physical" (H&P) write-up. It shows how the descriptive vocabulary we've been practicing is used in professional medical documentation.
Sample Written History and Physical Examination
This PDF contains a sample patient write-up. We will focus on the 'History of Present Illness' section, which is a perfect example of a structured symptom narrative.
Read the section 'History of Present Illness' (HPI). As you read, try to map the information about the patient's chest pain to the OPQRST framework.
Let's break down the HPI from the document together:
- O (Onset): "one week prior to admission... abrupt onset"
- P (Provocation/Palliation): Occurred "when she was working in her garden." It "resolved when she went inside and rested."
- Q (Quality): "dull and aching in character"
- R (Region/Radiation): "began in the left para-sternal area and radiated up to her neck"
- S (Severity): Not explicitly rated on a 1-10 scale, but the fact that it prompted an ED visit suggests it was severe.
- T (Time/Timing): The first episode lasted "approximately 5 to 10 minutes." She has had two more episodes since.
- Associated Symptoms: "accompanied by shortness of breath, but no sweating, nausea, or vomiting."
This exercise shows how the vocabulary and structure come together to create a clear, professional clinical picture.
Conclusion
Fantastic work today. You've learned not just individual words, but a complete system for describing patient complaints in English.
Key Takeaways:
- You now have a robust vocabulary to describe the quality, character, and timing of common symptoms like pain, shortness of breath, and cough.
- You can use the OPQRST framework as a reliable tool to structure your questions and organize a patient's history in English.
- You've been exposed to authentic symptom descriptions in both a general clinical setting and, crucially, in the context of pre-hospital emergencies.
This lesson has focused on the subjective part of the patient assessment—what the patient tells you.
Preview of the Next Lesson:
In our next session, we will move to the objective findings. The learning outcome will be to communicate vital signs and basic physical examination findings in English. We will cover the standard terminology for reporting things like blood pressure, heart rate, and lung sounds.