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Pharmacist
Pharmacy Vocabulary & Phrases
prescription dispense
pharmacy profiles
pharmacist prescribe
regimen allergy (n.)
fever nausea
Sedative diarrhea
therapeutic (adj.)
These English phrases will be useful when you are at a chemist.
a cough
travel sickness
athlete's foot
can you recommend anything for a cold?
hay fever
indigestion
diarrhea
Have fun!!!!!!!!
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Exercise 1
1. I have to my prescription. ( = get a second /
subsequent filling )
9. sleepy -->
Aspirin Cialis
Atenolol Concerta
Baclofen Demerol
Benadryl Digoxin
Diphenhydramine Ferrous Sulfate
Erythromycin Gardasil
Excedrin Glucophage
Femara Glucovance
allergic to severe allergy attack spots allergist to refer you sinuses itchy watery
hives shortness of breath breathe constricted nasal passages sneezing Tilt
Patient : Yes. I’ve just seen the doctor and now I want to get my medicine.
Pharmacist : O.K., could you please contact them first? And wait for the
cashier to call your name. After that you can bring the receipt to get your
medicine here.
Pharmacist : Umm.. Not yet, sir. I’ll call you when your medicine is ready.
Calling patients to get their medicine.
Pt : Hello, I want to buy this medicine. I couldn’t find it from anywhere. Do you
have it here?
Ph : Just a minute, please. Let me check it for you. Yes, we have this medicine
but I cannot dispense it without a prescription from the doctor. Would you
mind to see the doctor first?
Pt : Why do I have to see the doctor? I’ve been taking this medication for a
long time.
Ph : Yes, I understand that but this medicine has to be used under doctor’s
control that’s why you need a prescription.
Pt : OK, where can I see a doctor?
Ph : Is this your first time here?
Pt : Yeah.
Ph : So you have to register first. The registration section is right at the corner
over there. You just tell them that you want to buy the medicine which needs a
prescription from the doctor.
Pt : OK, thank you
Ph : You’re welcome.
Situation II
Pt : Is my medicine ready yet? I’ve been waiting here for almost 15 minute.
And there are no other patients at all. What are you doing? I don’t get it.
Ph : I’m very sorry. What your name, please? I’ll check it out for you.
Pt : Patricia.
Ph : OK, just a minute please. You have one medicine that needs to be mixed
so it might take some more time.
Pt : So how long do I have to wait?
Ph : Just about 10 minute. I’m very sorry for the inconvenience.
Pt : Alright.
Buying Over-the-Counter Medicine
Baby care;
Many people buy nappies (diapers) for their babies at chemists.
Along with the nappies are other products for babies, such
as nappy cream, cotton wool buds(lengths of plastic tipped with
soft cotton to clean a baby's ears, for example), baby wipes (to
help clean a baby) and so on.
Hair care;
Chemists also stock a range of hair products. You can
buy shampoo and conditioner (to wash your hair) and products to
colour hair. For styling your hair you can buy gel or mousse, which
act a bit like glue to keep your hair in a particular style. You can also
buy hair brushes or combs, to make your hair neat, and hair
grips and hair slides, which are plastic objects that keep your hair in
place.
Make up;
If you are looking for cosmetics or make-up, you can find eye-
liner (or kohl), mascara (for your eyelashes) and eye-shadow, which is
coloured powder to put on your eyelids. You can also
buy foundation (a cream to put on your face to give an even
surface), blusher (to add colour to your cheeks), lipstick (which adds
colour to your lips), and lip-gloss which adds shine to your lips. To
colour your nails you can use nail polish, also known as nail varnish.
Personal hygiene;
There's normally a wide selection of personal hygiene products. Many English
people like to soak in a long, hot bath, and so there's a huge market in bath
oils, bath salts or bubble bath – all ways to add nice smells to your bath! You can
also buy nail scissors and emery boards (to file your nails) and pumice stone, to
rub away dry skin from your feet. For oral hygiene, you can
buy toothbrushes, toothpaste and dental floss, which is like string that you use
to clean between your teeth.
You can also buy face and body creams, moisturizer (cream to prevent your skin
from going dry), soap and deodorant. Other items you can find in this section of
the chemist are razors, to shave hair from your body, shaving foam;
and feminine hygiene products, such as tampons and sanitary towels.
bitter pill to swallow
- an unpleasant fact that one must accept
Losing the election was a bitter pill to swallow for the candidate.
black-and-blue
- bruised, showing signs of having been physically harmed
My arm was black-and-blue after falling down the stairs.
catch a cold
- to get a cold
I caught a cold last week and had to miss four days of work.
come down with (something)
- to become sick with something, to catch an illness
My niece came down with a cold and was unable to visit me last week.
fill a prescription
- to get some medicine from a pharmacy (drug store) with the orders from
a doctor
The man went to the drug store to fill a prescription.
get well
- to become well, to become healthy again
The boy was sick but now he is getting well.
refill a prescription
- to sell a second set of medicine on a doctor's orders
I went to the pharmacy to refill a prescription for my mother.
run a fever/temperature
- to have a higher than normal body temperature
The girl has been running a fever this week.
The little boy is running a temperature and should stay in bed all day.
splitting headache
- a severe headache
I have been suffering from a splitting headache all morning.
throw up
- to vomit
The woman threw up after eating the bad shellfish.
Prescription writing
A prescription is an order that is written by you, the physician (or medical student
with signature by a physician) to tell the pharmacist what medication you want your
patient to take. The basic format of a prescription includes the patient’s name and
another patient identifier, usually the date of birth. It also includes the meat of the
prescription, which contains the medication and strength, the amount to be taken, the
route by which it is to be taken and the frequency. Often times, for “as needed”
medications, there is a symptom included for when it is to be taken. The prescriber
also writes how much should be given, and how many refills. Once completed with a
signature and any other physician identifiers like NPI number or DEA number, the
prescription is taken to the pharmacist who interprets what is written and prepares
the medication for the patient. Let’s break it down.
Patient Identifiers
Drug/Medication
This is an easy one. This is the medication you want to prescribe. It generally does not
matter if you write the generic or the brand name here, unless you specifically want to
prescribe the brand name. Remember, if you do want the brand name, you specifically
need to tell the pharmacist – “no generics.” There are several reasons why you would
want to do this, but we won’t get into that here. On the prescription pad, there is a
small box which can be checked to indicate “brand name only” or “no generics”.
Strength
After you write the medication name, you need to tell the pharmacist the desired
strength. Many, if not most, medications come in multiple strengths. You need to write
which one you want. Often times, the exact strength you want is not available, so the
pharmacist will substitute an appropriate alternative for you. For example, if you write
prednisone (a corticosteroid) 50 mg, and the pharmacy only carries 10 mg tablets, the
pharmacist will dispense the 10 mg tabs and adjust the amount the patient should take
by a multiple of 5.
Amount
Using my previous example for prednisone, the original prescription was for 50 mg tabs.
The prescriber would have written “prednisone 50 mg, one tab….” (I’ll leave out the rest
until we get there). The “one tab” is the amount of the specific medication and strength
to take. Again using my previous example, the instructions would be rewritten
“prednisone 10 mg, five tabs….” You can see that “one tab” was changed to “five”.
Pharmacists make these changes all the time, often without any input needed from the
physician.
Route
Up until this point, we have been using plain English for the prescriptions. The route is
the first opportunity we have to start using English or Latin abbreviations. A NOTE: it is
often suggested that to help reduce the number of medication errors, prescription
writing should be 100% English, with no Latin abbreviations. I will show you both and let
you decide. There are several routes by which a medication can be taken: By Mouth (PO),
Per Rectum (PR), Sublingually (SL), Intramuscularly (IM), Intravenously (IV),
Subcutaneously (SQ)
As you can see, the abbreviations are either from Latin roots like PO – per os – or just
common combination of letters from the English word. Unfortunately when you are in a
hurry and scribbling these prescriptions, (there is a truth behind never being able to read
a physician’s hand writing) many of these abbreviations can look similar. For example,
intranasal is often abbreviated “IN,” which, when you are in a hurry, can be mistaken for
“IM” or “IV.” Check this out:
Common Route Abbreviations:
PO (by mouth)
PR (per rectum)
IM (intramuscular)
IV (intravenous)
ID (intradermal)
IN (intranasal)
TP (topical)
SL (sublingual)
BUCC (buccal)
IP (intraperitoneal)
Frequency
The frequency is simply how often you want the prescription to be taken. This can be
anywhere from once a day, once a night, twice a day or even once every other week.
Many frequencies start with the letter “q.” Q if from the Latin word quaque which means
once. So it used to be that if you wanted a medication to be taken once daily, you would
write QD, for “once daily ” (“d” is from “die,” the Latin word for day) . However, to
help reduce medication errors, QD and QOD (every other day) are on the JCAHO “do not
use” list. Instead you need to write “daily” or “every other day.”
Many prescriptions that you write will be for “as needed” medications. This is known
as a “PRN” (from the Latin pro re nata, meaning as circumstances may require). For
example, you may write for ibuprofen every 4 hours “as needed.” What is commonly
missed is the “reason.” Why would it be needed? You need to add this to the
prescription. You should write “PRN headache” or “PRN pain” so that the patient
knows when to take it.
How Much
The “how much” instruction tells the pharmacist how many pills should be dispensed,
or how many bottles, or how many inhalers. This number is typically written after
“Disp #.” I highly recommend that you spell out the number after the # sign, though
this is not required. For example: I would write “Disp #30 (thirty).” This prevents
someone from tampering with the prescription and adding an extra 0 after 30, turning
30 into 300.
Refills
The last instruction on the prescription informs the pharmacist how many times the
patient will be allowed to use the same exact prescription, i.e. how many refills are
allowed. For example, let’s take refills for oral contraceptives for women. A physician
may prescribe 1 pack of an oral contraceptive with 11 refills, which would last the
patient a full year. This is convenient for both the patient and physician for any
medications that will be used long term.
Prescription Writing Examples:
This example is a common medication prescribed when people are leaving the
hospital. It is one 100 mg tablet, taken at bedtime. The prescription is for 30 pills and
no refills.
Zofran is a very popular anti-nausea medication used after surgery. You’ll notice this
script is missing the “amount.” IV medications are a little different in that the
amount and strength are kind of mixed together. This is not always the case though.
You also see that this is an “as needed” or “PRN” medication. When the patient
complains of nausea, the nurse can give this medication because it has been
prescribed.
This example shows a common way to write prescriptions for liquids, especially for
children. Obviously “liquid” isn’t the medication, but you get the idea. Liquids come
in specific strengths per amount of liquid. Here, the strength is 10 mg per 5 mL. We
only want to give 5 mg though, so the “amount” that we prescribe is only 2.5 mL per
dose. It’s given by mouth every 4 hours. We are dispensing “1 (one) bottle”. You could
also just write “1 (one)” as the pharmacist would know what you meant.
To finish up, here is a list of the JCAHO “Do Not Use” List:
U or u (unit) – use “unit”
eye, nose, mouth, ear, cheek, chin, nostril, eyebrow, eyelid, eyelash, lips.
Nose - You can smell things with your nose. You can also breathe through
your nose.
2. thumb
3. index finger
4. middle finger
5. ring finger
6. little finger
7. nail
8. knuckle
The Leg and Foot
knee, leg, shin, calf (muscle), ankle, heel, foot, toe
lungs - when you breathe, the air goes into your lungs.
veins - these transport blood through your body. They are like little tubes.
ribs - these are the bones that protect the organs in your chest.
bones - your skeleton consists of many bones. There are about 206 in
your body.
skin - it covers almost the entire body and helps keep all the organs
and muscles in place.
Other Parts of the Body
Here is a list of some other parts of the body that have not been included above.
head - face - hair - tongue - tooth - back - waist - chest - hip - thigh - muscles
neck - this connects your head with your shoulders and the rest of
your body.
tongue - the muscle at the bottom of your mouth that tastes things
and helps you pronounce words
wrinkles - the lines in your skin caused by age. Old people have a lot
of wrinkles.