This lesson is for my Certificate II students at AMES in Box Hill
Sometimes you don't feel well and you need to be seen by a doctor. If you think that your life is in danger, you need to go immediately to hospital and see a doctor at the emergency department there.
If your life is not in danger, you can go and see your family doctor. In Australia people go to see a GP. A GP is a doctor who will examine you and prescribe some medicine if you need to have any. He may give you medical advice and not ask you to take medicine. He may give your body some time to fight an infection for example.
Before you go to see a GP, you need to book an appointment. Most people ring the doctor's surgery to book an appointment a day or two before they actually see the GP. They go to the surgery about ten minutes before their appointment and may have to wait for some time before the doctor sees them. GPs in Australia are very busy because they have to see a lot of patients every day.
Some people don't like to see a GP, especially young children because he or she sometimes gives them an injection. They scream and cry after getting an injection and feel happy to leave the surgery.
Sometimes people need to take a family member with them when they go and see the doctor because their English is not good enough.
People need to tell their doctor if they are allergic to any medicine when they speak to him or her. They also need to tell the doctor how they feel and what they suffer from. They need to tell the doctor if they have had any operations in the past.
The doctor normally asks the patient many questions to try to find out exactly what he or she suffers from. Sometimes the GP asks the patient to do a blood or a urine test before he or she writes a prescription. In some cases, the doctor may refer a patient to a specialist. A specialist is a doctor who knows more about what the patient suffers from. In most cases, patients need to wait for some time before they can see a specialist and they may need to go to hospital to see them.
Many doctors don't charge their patients any money because these doctors "bulk bill". You need to show your medicare card to the receptionist before you see the doctor and sign a little piece of paper when the doctor finishes examining you.
If the doctor doesn't bulk bill, this means that he or she is a private doctor. People need to pay money to see a private doctor.
If you have a problem with your teeth, you need to go and see a dentist. A dentist looks after your teeth. Dentists in Australia don't bulk bill. They charge money for their services.
If you live in Melbourne, it is normally easy to book an appointment to see a doctor. If you live in the country, you may have to wait for a few weeks before you see one. There are not many doctors who work in the country and sometimes people need to travel to be able to see a GP.
A GP normally spends about 20 minutes examining a patient. The patient can ask the GP many questions about what to do in order to get well soon. He or she can ask the GP questions about the medicine or any thing that comes to their minds.
Your GP will normally explain how many time you need to take a medicine each day. He or she may ask you to come and see them again after a few days to see if your health has improved or not.
