Hospitals
10. What types of medical institutions are there in the communities? Define them.
The most familiar health care institution is the hospital. Hospitals provide care for the sick and injured. The emergency units in hospitals are also becoming more important as all-purpose treatment centers. Other institutions provide health care in addition to hospitals. Nursing (or convalescent) homes provide care for the sick and for convalescing patients. They are becoming increasingly popular, particularly for the elderly, prenatal clinics for pregnant woman, well-baby clinics for new mothers and their babies, and mental health clinics for those who need periodic psychiatric attention, among others.
11. What is the difference between general and specialized hospitals? What conditions may be managed in there types of hospitals?
There are many different kinds of hospitals. These hospitals provide a variety of services, including general and specialized medicine (therapy, cardiology, gastroenterology, urology, neurology, traumatology and orthopedics, gynecology, etc.), general and specialized surgery, and obstetrics, to meet the general medical needs of the community. Patients with acute problems stay there for only a short term, seven days on the average. Other hospitals provide more specialized care. Some treat patients with chronic illness, such as tuberculosis, requiring long-term care, or patients of one age group, like children. Specialty hospitals also include rehabilitation and psychiatric ones.
12. What are the types of hospitals according to the means of their financing support?
Hospitals can also be categorized by their means of financial support. Most hospitals in the world are operated and financed by the government of their country. Other hospitals are private, non-profit institutions, known as voluntary hospitals. The primary mission of such hospitals is to benefit the community in which they are located. Proprietary or investor-owned hospitals are run to make a profit.
13. What hospital staff members do you know? What are their duties and responsibilities?
There is a great number of staff works in hospitals nowadays. For example:
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Hospital porters |
They move equipment or patients on trolleys and in wheelchairs |
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Nurses |
They care for patients, especially in a hospital |
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Midwives |
They are trained to assist women in childbirth |
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Radiographers |
They work in the X-ray department |
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Paramedics |
They do medical work, especially emergency first aid |
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Medical laboratory scientists |
They carry out tests for illnesses, like blood tests |
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Pharmacists |
They prepare and dispense medicines |
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Physiotherapists |
They use massage, heat and exercise to treat disease or injury |
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Speech therapists |
They help people with speech problems to speak more clearly |
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Dieticians |
They evaluate diets, assess nutritional status and plan diets for people with specific conditions |
14. Name medical specialties and define each.
There are such specialties in the hospitals as:
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Emergency Medicine |
work specifically in emergency departments where they treat acute illnesses and emergency situations |
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General Practitioners |
examine and treat patients or order tests and have X-rays done to diagnose different types of illnesses |
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Internists |
treat diseases related to the internal organs of the body, for example conditions of the lungs, blood, kidneys, and heart |
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Cardiologists |
treat heart diseases |
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Neurologists |
treat disorders of the central nervous system and order tests necessary to detect diseases |
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Ophthalmologists |
treat diseases and injuries of the eye |
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Otolaryngologists |
specialize in the treatment of conditions or diseases of the ear, nose, and throat |
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Pediatricians |
provide care for children from birth to adolescence |
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Pathologists |
study the characteristics, causes, and progression of diseases; examine dead bodies to find out the cause of death |
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Gynecologists |
involved in the health care and maintenance of the reproductive system of women |
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Urologists |
specialize in conditions of the urinary tract in both sexes and of the sexual/reproductive system in males |
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Oncologists |
specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of cancers and tumors |
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General Surgeons |
perform many different types of surgery, usually of relatively low degree of difficulty |
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Anesthesiologists |
use drugs and gases to render patients unconscious during surgery |
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Neurologic Surgeons |
specialize in surgery of the brain, spinal cord, and nervous system |