Doctor's Appointment

Scenarios‎ > ‎

photo by Matt From London

Primary Scenario Objectives – What Clients Should Learn

How to make an appointment to see the doctor
How to check in at the doctor’s office
How to communicate with the doctor and his or her staff

From the Refugee Perspective – Cultural Norms

House calls are a thing of the past for the overwhelming majority of people in America, so it is up to the patient to find a way to get to the doctor.
Your client may be seen by either a male or female doctor if a preference is not stated when the appointment is made. In emergency situations, a choice in doctor gender may not be possible.
How to get to the hospital in an emergency, including how to call 9-1-1 if he or she cannot drive to the closest hospital.
Insurance and identification cards must be taken along to the doctor’s office or your client may not be seen.
Patience is a virtue at the doctor’s office because there can often be a lot of waiting around involved.

Scenario Activities

Pick a Part of Speech:

Items needed to complete activity: a few 3 × 5 notecards, a few sheets of paper, a pen or pencil, and two bowls.

Write down words for body parts from the list below on paper and then tear off and fold up each word separately. Place those pieces of paper in one bowl.
Write down words from the list below that are verbs or adjectives and then tear them off and fold up separately as well. Place those pieces of paper in the other bowl.
On the notecards, write out statements (one statement per card) to describe symptoms, but leave blank spaces where body part words and verbs/adjectives (the words in the bowls) can be used to complete the sentences. For example, cards could read “My (blank) feels (blank)”, “I feel (blank)”, “I have/have not been (blank) and something might be wrong”, or “I need help with my (blank)”.

Now, sit with your client and set out the two bowls and lay the cards face down between them. Ask your client to pick one of the index cards up and turn it over. You will read and pronounce what is written on the card together. Then, depending on which types of speech will be needed to complete the phrases on the note cards, give your client the appropriate bowl or bowls from which to draw words. When the word(s) are drawn, practice reading and pronouncing them with your client by themselves, and then use them in the sentences from the notecards. Please make sure your client understands the meaning of each word. Through practicing this activity, your client should become familiar with describing common health complaints in terminology that will help his or her doctor diagnose his or her ailment.

Mock Appointment:

Items needed to complete activity: note cards and pen/pencil

Before performing this activity, it would probably help your client to complete the “Minute, Hour, Day, Month, Year” and the “Numbers” scenario training. The U.S. calendar and a telephone keypad will surely be familiar to your client after that, and then you can start this mock appointment by first asking him or her to pretend to call the doctor to make the appointment. The best way to get your client comfortable with this process is to talk through basic phrases that will be used over and over again. Talk them through and practice writing them out on notecards that can be studied as homework.
Practice a mock check-in. Help your client become accustomed to showing identification and insurance cards at the front desk, and to signing the check-in sheet. Again, write useful phrases on notecards for your client to study.
Practice mock vitals checks on your client, so he or she will know what to expect at the doctor’s office. Pretend to take his or her weight, temperature, pulse, etc. (ACTUAL TOUCHING is not permitted, so some parts of this scenario will have to be explained in words.)

Practice mock conversations with the doctor, employing the use of phrases practiced in the activity above. Act out other physical tests a doctor may perform, such as checking the eyes, ears, nose, throat (“say ahh”), and lungs. You might make a new notecard for your client to practice with every time you two discover a helpful word or phrase during the mock appointment. “Filling a Prescription” should be one of the next scenarios to visit with your client.

Essential Vocabulary

head
ear(s)
eye(s)
nose
throat
lungs
chest
heart
arm(s)
hand(s)
finger(s)
wrist
leg(s)
foot/feet
toe(s)
ankle(s)
knee(s)
back
stomach
shoulder(s)
sick/bad/ill
hurt(s)
swollen
breath/breathe/breathing
bleeding
sleeping
eating
temperature
fever
itches
rash
doctor
nurse
prescription
medicine
vaccine
shot