Summoning a Doctor

(Situation: Tom is talking to a clerk of the registration department on the telephone)

Tom: Good morning.

Clerk: Good morning.

Tom: May I call in a doctor?

Clerk: Certainly. What's the matter with you?

Tom: I've got a very high temperature, a bad cough and a splitting headache.

Clerk: What is your full name?

Tom: I am Tom Smith.

Clerk: Where do you live?

Tom: Tower Street, 15, flat 20.

Clerk: Your local doctor will come in the afternoon.

Tom: Thank you, good-bye.

Clerk: Good-bye.

(The doctor comes to Tom's place)

Doctor: Good afternoon.

Tom: Good afternoon.

Doctor: You are Tom Smith, aren't you? What do you complain of?

Tom: I've got a splitting headache and muscular pains. My temperature is over 38°C. My nose is running.

Doctor: When did you fall ill?

Tom: I felt rotten two days ago. But as my temperature was normal I didn't consult a doctor.

Doctor: Strip to the waist. Let me examine you. May I have a look at your throat? Open wider. Say "Ah".

Tom: Ah!

Doctor: Very well, your tonsils seem all right. Give me your hand. I'll feel your pulse. It's accelerated a little. Let me listen to your heart and lungs. I can hear moist rales. I think you've got bronchitis. You should stay in bed. I'll give you a sick leave for three days and after that you'll come to the polyclinic.

Tom: That's all right, doctor.

Doctor: Here is your prescription for antibiotics, order them at the chemist’s.

Tom: Thank you, I'll do everything you've told to me.

Talk between a Mother (m), her Son (s) and the Doctor (d)

M: Your nose is clogged up, your voice is hoarse and your face is flushed. You must have a cold. I’m sure. I hope it’s nothing more. Where did you manage to get it?

S: I don’t know myself. I must have caught cold last night after a game of football when I felt so hot that I even took my jacket off.

M: How thoughtless (careless) of you, the evening was chilly and windy. Now you’ll have to stay in. Here’s the thermometer, take your temperature.

S: Oh, I’ll be all right in a few hours.

M: Now, you do what you are told. Put the thermometer under your arm (in the armpit)... Oh, it’s thirty eight point three. You’ll have to stay away from classes today. I’ll call the doctor (I’ll have the doctor in).

(She phones to the local out-patient hospital and is told that the doctor will call while making his daily round of the district. Some time later the doctor comes)

D: What do you complain of, my boy?

S: I have a bad (splitting) headache and a sore throat. I feel a sort of feverish.

D: Let me feel your pulse. Open your mouth, please. I see your tongue is coated and your throat inflamed. Now, strip to the waist, please. (The doctor sounds the boy’s lungs.) Take a deep breath...

(To the mother.) Your son is to keep his bed for three days. Here is the prescription. The medicine is to be taken three times a day before meals, two tablespoonfuls each time. It will help to keep the fever down.

(To the son.) Blow your nose gently, young man, or else you’ll have an earache... Nothing serious, but don’t get up before Wednesday, as there might be complications (bad after-effects).