Lesson 2 – Taking about Medical History.

Duration: 50 minutes.

Let’s take a look at today’s lesson

This lesson will look talking about medical history with a patient. We will look at some phrases we can use.

Lesson Key: (L) = Listening (U) = Understanding. (R) = Reading.

Theme: Collecting a Patient’s Background

Warm-up (5 min): Review Lesson 1 greetings. Quick Q&A: “Do you smoke? Do you have allergies?”
Vocabulary (10 min): Introduce and practice history-taking phrases.
Dialogue Practice (10 min): Read and listen to a short doctor–patient conversation.
Role-play (15 min): Students act as doctor and patient using prepared “patient cards.”
Homework (5 min): Write a short patient history in English.

Quick questions

Do you follow a protocol, when asking about medical history?

1. Key Vocabulary & Phrases

Greeting:
“Good morning / Good afternoon / Hello.”
Introduction:
“I am Dr. Silva, a pulmonologist.”
Smoking history:
“Have you ever smoked?”
“How many cigarettes a day?”
Time expressions:
“Since when?”
“For how long?”
Family history:
“Does anyone in your family have asthma or lung disease?”
Allergies: “Are you allergic to any medicines?”
Previous illnesses: “Have you ever been hospitalized?”

2. Short Reading

Patient dialogue:

Doctor: Do you smoke?
Patient: Yes, I smoked for 15 years, but I stopped 5 years ago.
Doctor: Very good. Do you have any allergies?
Patient: Yes, I am allergic to penicillin.
Doctor: Thank you. Does anyone in your family have lung problems?
Patient: My father has asthma.

Listening

Listen to the audio and read the text at the same time.

Transcript:
Yes, I smoked for fifteen years, but I stopped five years ago.

At first it was very difficult, but now I feel better without cigarettes.

Still, I sometimes worry about my lungs because of my smoking history.

Also, my father suffered from asthma for most of his life.

He often had problems with breathing, especially in the winter.

Because of that, I want to be careful and check my health regularly.

3. Guided Practice

Role-play activity:

One of us will be the doctor, one is the patient.
Doctor: greet, introduce, and ask about the patients medical history.

Example prompts:

“Have you ever smoked?”
“When did you stop?”
“Are you allergic to any medicines?”

Sample Dialogue

Doctor: Have you ever smoked?
Patient: Yes, I smoked for about 15 years.

Doctor: When did you stop?
Patient: I stopped five years ago.

Doctor: Are you allergic to any medicines?
Patient: Yes, I am allergic to aspirin.

Doctor: Thank you. That information is very helpful.

4. Reflection Task

Write a short patient history (5–6 sentences). Example:
“The patient is 52 years old. He smoked for 20 years. He has no allergies. His father had lung cancer.”

Patient History 1

The patient is 38 years old. He smoked for 15 years and stopped three years ago. He has no allergies. His father had chronic bronchitis. The patient complains of coughing every night for the past two weeks.

Patient History 2

The patient is 55 years old. She has never smoked. She is allergic to aspirin. Her mother had asthma, and her brother has diabetes. The patient reports chest tightness and shortness of breath when walking.

Patient History 3

The patient is 62 years old. He smoked for 25 years and still smokes one pack a day. He is not allergic to any medicines. His father died of lung cancer. The patient feels tired and has a cough that started one month ago.