Reality outside language, anyone?
A few days ago, I entered into yet another discussion about ‘language of medicine’, brought about by a tweet about ‘language shaping culture’, and in particular about the word ‘provider’ which is used to describe doctors. The thread contained a reference to another article which had taken up exactly the same issue. The authors don’t like the word ‘provider’ and say that the new language of medicine must be changed. I think they have it upside down.
Continue reading “Reality outside language, anyone?”Difficult conversations
A few days ago, I came across a tweet about training for ‘difficult conversations’. It piqued my interest for two reasons. First, I was wondering what a difficult conversation is, second, I actually wondered how a healthcare professional should communicate in a ‘difficult conversation’.
Continue reading “Difficult conversations”Why I keep using the ‘ń’
When I arrived in the United Kingdom all these years ago, I faced a problem I had not thought of. The problem was of what name I would be using. Dariusz Galasiński, the way I pronounce and write it, very quickly appeared not to be an option….And so, I immediately started anglicising the names. Dariusz became Darius, Galasiński lost palatalisation and acquired the non-palatalised ‘s’ and ‘n’ and Bob became my uncle. Who needs palatalising anyway?!
Continue reading “Why I keep using the ‘ń’”On medical shortcuts
My Twitter timeline today included a tweet from Richard Lehman, who suggested that Healthwatch’s BRAN ‘model’ of talking to a doctor could be turned upside down. In this post, I would like to suggest that whether it’s BRAN or NARB, the ordinary conversation beats it hands down.
Continue reading “On medical shortcuts”