MODULE 1
TAKING A HEALTH HISTORY
Format Components
Module Description and Content Goals:
Given topics on health care taking and collecting subjective data; texts that are varied and of a specialized and medical
nature, which include information presented from dialogues and other sources (e.g. photographs, drawings, reference
text /research information), the participant will use English with 70 % accuracy to:
1. Review and use idioms people regularly use to report when they are feeling sick. (Words and Expressions to
Know).
2. Identify and demonstrate proper note-taking techniques; take notes of a health history. (Listening)
3. Identify and use some common medical abbreviations used in the recording of health histories.
(Writing)
4. Listen for main ideas and details. (Listening)
5. Identify health history terms. (Speaking)
6. Review how to form questions properly. (Grammar)
7. Conduct an interview between a patient and a doctor taking a health history. (Speaking)
8. Identify the importance of giving patients enough time for responses, using open-ended questions and avoiding
leading questions (Communication Tip)
9. Identify techniques of effective communication between health care workers and patients. (Reading)
Estimated Completion Time:
This is a self-paced module designed to be completed in an average amount of
time. The specific time required for completion will vary from student to student based on their individual skills and
learning environment. As an average, this module takes three to five hours to complete.
Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills:
ESOL Intermediate level courses
Resources Inventory:
Student Handouts: H1:1; H1:2; H1:3; H1:4; H1:5; H1:6; H1:7
CD with Module 1 listening activities
The Sound Recorder Program Instructions (for students who work independently and need to record themselves)
Module 1 Answer Key
Fundamentals of English Grammar by Betty Azar , Chapter 5 Asking Questions (optional)
Longman Advanced American Dictionary or Oxford Dictionary of American Dictionary
Module components with specific instructions and Learning Activity Plan
Specific instructions:
1. It is best to work on this module in pairs and with a tutor. However, since detailed explanations of all the
activities and new concepts are provided in the student handout, students can successfully master the material
on their own.
2. If the SPEAKING exercises are not done in the presence of a tutor, they should be recorded in the lab, using the
Sound Recorder Program (instructions are attached) for further assessment by a tutor.
3. If you are working on the module on your own, compare your answers with those provided in the Module
Answer Key after completing each exercise.
Learning Activity Plans:
Learning Activity # 1
Content Goal # 1: Review and use idioms people regularly use to report when they are feeling sick. (Words and
Expressions to Know)
Handout 1:1 A-B
Words and Expressions to Know
Words and Expressions to Know handouts list vocabulary words and expressions for each module. Most of these words
are widely used in the medical field. Each word will appear in the dialogues or readings that follow the list.
Warm Up - Look at the title of Module 1 and the picture on the cover page. Ask the students to predict what they will
study in this module and have them brainstorm as many words associated with the picture and the title as they can.
H 1:1 A - Read the phrases and sentences and ask the students to repeat them after you. Explain that the words in the
left-hand column of the chart will appear in the recording they are going to hear. Have the students write what they
think each one means in the second column. Discuss the correct definitions after they are done.
H 1:1 B – The students work on this exercise individually and then compare their answers with their partner. If there is
no partner, the students should check their answers with their tutor or look in the Module 1 Answer Key.
Learning Activity # 2:
Content Goal # 2 : Identify and demonstrate proper note-taking techniques; take notes of a
health history (Listening)
Handout 1:2 A
H 1:2 A – Tell students that to be able to remember what their client tells them, it’s a good idea to take notes.
Ask them if they can share some tips on how to take notes efficiently and remember the info from the speech they have
just heard. Write their suggestions on the board.
Have the students read the tips in H 1:2. Which ones are new to you? Tell them that these techniques will help them not
only take notes of their patients’ answers, but also will be useful for taking notes of the lectures at the nursing school.
Share with the students the following commonly used symbols:
+
=
≠
≈
<
>
@
&
plus, and
equal, is
is not, does not equal
is approximately equal
is less than
is more than
at
and
male
↑
↓
“
?
!
$
→
←
an increase/a rise/an improvement in smth.
a decrease/a fall/a reduction/a deterioration in smth.
the same as the word above
question
this is an important point
dollar
causes/results in/becomes/makes
is caused by/is the result of/is made from
female
Learning Activity # 3
Content Goal # 3: Identify and use some common medical abbreviations used in the recording of health histories.
Handout 1:2 B-C (Writing)
H 1:2 B – Have the students read the abbreviations in the chart and ask them if they have already used any of them.
Which ones are new? Do you have any questions? What’s the Latin for “every”? Go over all the abbreviations with q.
Ask them if they know what b, t and q in bid, tid and qid stand for (the first letter of the Latin numbers – bi-, tres, quarto)
H 1:2 C - Ask the students to cover Part B of H1:2 and complete the matching exercise without looking at the table with
the abbreviations.
Learning Activity # 4
Content Goal # 4: Listen for main ideas and details.
Handout 1:3 A-B (Listening)
CD - EX. H1:3 A and H1:3 B
Listening: Tell the students that in the next three modules they are going to go through the stages of taking a health
history. Although it is presented here as a doctor taking a history, it could easily be adapted so that it could be used by
other health care professionals.
H 1:3 A – Listening for Main Ideas -Read aloud the instructions for H 1:3 A. Remind the students that the goal of this
exercise is to listen for main ideas. Ask them to look at the picture in this handout. Explain to them that this picture
illustrates what is happening in the recording they are about to hear. Have the students read the case history
components. Prompt them to ask questions if they don’t understand these terms. Play the CD and have the students fill
in the blanks. Play it again if the students had trouble catching all the information. Then go over the answers together.
Did you use any abbreviations?
Students who work on their own should consult the Module 1 Answer Key.
H 1:3 B – Tell the students that in this listening exercise they will hear questions that are frequently asked while taking a
health history. Those questions are omitted in their handout. Ask the students to fill in as many of them as they can on
their first listening. Offer to discuss any questions they have at that point. Play the recording again and have them
repeat what the speaker says after each pause. Ask them to compare their answers with their partners and then with
the answer key. Then read the dialogue in pairs.
Learning Activity # 5
Content Goal # 5: Identify health history terms. (Speaking)
Handouts 1:3 C
H 1:3 C – Elicit from the students all the health history components. Tell them that the complete health history is
modified when necessary. For example, it was shortened in the interview between Dr. Howell and Ms. Sandler. Ask the
students to answer the question in H 1:3 C individually and then compare their answers with their partners. They may
have to read the dialogue again to see which health history components are missing.
Learning Activity # 6
Content Goal # 6: Review how to form questions properly. (Grammar)
Handouts 1:4 A-B
H 1:4 A – Tell the students that this is just a review. – This material should be familiar to them from the ESOL High
Beginning and Intermediate level courses. Have them read the grammar explanation in the handout and then do
Exercise B. If the students have problems forming questions in English, encourage them to study Chapter 5 of
Fundamentals of English Grammar by Betty Azar. Tell them that his whole chapter is dedicated to the interrogative
sentences, and it provides plenty of practice for forming various kinds of questions.
Learning Activity # 7
Content Goal # 7: Conduct an interview between a patient and a doctor taking a health history. (Writing,
Speaking)
Handout 1:5 A-D
H1:5 A – Have the students study the notes and figure out the abbreviations. Answer any questions they may have
about the four case summaries.
H1:5 B - Give each student a different case and ask him or her to write the questions. Refer them to the dialogue in
this module for help with these questions. Ask those who completed this exercise first to write their questions on
the board. Discuss their answers together. Go over any problematic areas.
H 1:5 C – When the students have enough practice and are comfortable writing health history questions, have them
do Activity C. This is a communicative activity that reinforces all the language points introduced in this tutorial. It
winds up the oral work in this module.
This kind of activity can be organized in two ways:
Whole group activity: One student chooses a case and comes to the front of the group. The other students ask
questions.
Pair activity: Form pairs for this role play. Tell the members of each pair to change roles for each case.
Walk around the class and give help as needed. This is a fluency activity. Therefore, so don’t interrupt the students
but rather record any problems you hear and elicit the most common ones after they are done interviewing each
other.
H 1:5 D – The students may have difficulty with this activity. Be prepared to explain to them each diagnose and why
you arrived at this decision.
Learning Activity # 8
Content Goal # 8: Identify the importance of giving patients enough time for responses, using open-ended
questions and avoiding leading questions. (Communication Tip)
Handout 1:6 A-B
H 1:6 A – Have the students read Communication Tip 1. Make sure they understand the difference between open-ended
and close-ended questions before they do the next activity. Tell the students that there are only three open-ended
questions in the exercise that follows Communication Tip 1. Ask them to find them. Then have them work on the rest of
the questions individually. When they are done, ask them to compare their answers with their partners. Going over the
questions with a partner may provide a meaningful conversation and further practice their speaking skills.
H 1:6 B – The students may already know the answer to this question. However, if not, have them listen to the dialogue
again.
Learning Activity # 9
Content Goal # 9: Identify techniques of effective communication between health care workers
and patients. (Reading)
Handout 1:7
H 1:7 – Reading
Pose the pre-reading questions. Have two columns on the board: What health care workers can do… and What
patients can do… Write down the best and most interesting answers on the board. Then have the students read the
article and ask them to go to the board and add other techniques of effective communication that they have learned
from this reading. Ask them to explain the title of the article (Doctors are from Venus; Patients are from Mars). Then
have them read the post-reading questions and answer them in pairs. Call on individual students to give the correct
answer. Ask them to them explain their answers.
Learning Outcomes Assessment is attached.