OMEN
08-10-2008, 11:33 PM
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Doctors from overseas are getting a crash course on how to speak 'proper Yorkshire' because they were finding it so difficult to understand locals.
Despite having near perfect English, many foreign doctors were being left baffled by Yorkshire slang - so Doncaster Primary Care Trust now provides help through a special dictionary of words and phrases.
The colloquial translations were produced by Dr Lis Rodgers who is in charge of foreign recruitment for the Trust, reports Sky News.
"This is about trying to improve patient care and helping doctors to understand their patients," she said.
"This started when a colleague from Austria was told by a female patient she was about to examine, 'I've got my friend with me', which meant she had her period.
"I then asked staff working at the Trust to write down all of the colloquialisms they knew and give them to me. Believe me, the list has been edited a great deal."
Dr Rodgers said many of the terms relate to anatomical problems that people may be embarrassed to say, and therefore use a euphemism to explain - such as 'bits' to describe genitalia and 'Uncle Sam' instead of penis.
She said: "When people come in with medical problems they may be embarrassed to talk about, they often use colloquialisms and it wouldn't be comfortable for the doctor or the patient to have to explain in graphic detail.
"It is not just the foreign doctors who use it. It is on the website and new doctors from outside the area sometimes find it helpful too."
Nova
Doctors from overseas are getting a crash course on how to speak 'proper Yorkshire' because they were finding it so difficult to understand locals.
Despite having near perfect English, many foreign doctors were being left baffled by Yorkshire slang - so Doncaster Primary Care Trust now provides help through a special dictionary of words and phrases.
The colloquial translations were produced by Dr Lis Rodgers who is in charge of foreign recruitment for the Trust, reports Sky News.
"This is about trying to improve patient care and helping doctors to understand their patients," she said.
"This started when a colleague from Austria was told by a female patient she was about to examine, 'I've got my friend with me', which meant she had her period.
"I then asked staff working at the Trust to write down all of the colloquialisms they knew and give them to me. Believe me, the list has been edited a great deal."
Dr Rodgers said many of the terms relate to anatomical problems that people may be embarrassed to say, and therefore use a euphemism to explain - such as 'bits' to describe genitalia and 'Uncle Sam' instead of penis.
She said: "When people come in with medical problems they may be embarrassed to talk about, they often use colloquialisms and it wouldn't be comfortable for the doctor or the patient to have to explain in graphic detail.
"It is not just the foreign doctors who use it. It is on the website and new doctors from outside the area sometimes find it helpful too."
Nova