Medical English vocabulary: 12 words for doctors and patients
B1–B212 words
Medical appointments are high-stakes conversations where a single misunderstood word matters. This list covers the vocabulary that comes up between a patient and a doctor in English-speaking healthcare, from booking to prescription.
Where you will use it: Doctor's appointments, hospitals and pharmacies.
Medical English — The word list
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| symptom | A sign that you may be ill.“A cough is the most common symptom.” |
| prescription | A doctor's written order for medicine.“Take this prescription to the pharmacy.” |
| referral | Being sent to a specialist.“My GP gave me a referral to a cardiologist.” |
| GP | A general practitioner, your family doctor.“Book an appointment with your GP first.” |
| dosage | How much medicine to take and how often.“Follow the dosage on the label.” |
| side effect | An unwanted effect of a medicine.“Drowsiness is a common side effect.” |
| swelling | An area that has become larger because of injury.“There's some swelling around the ankle.” |
| allergic to | Having a bad reaction to something.“I'm allergic to penicillin.” |
| diagnosis | Identifying what illness someone has.“The diagnosis took two visits.” |
| check-up | A routine medical examination.“I go for a check-up every year.” |
| insurance cover | What your health policy pays for.“Does my insurance cover physiotherapy?” |
| recover | To become healthy again.“She recovered fully after a month.” |
How to study this list
Add five or six of these words a day rather than all twelve at once, keep the example sentence on the card, and review them when they come due. WordNest schedules each word across seven growing intervals — same day, then 1, 3, 7, 14, 30 and 60 days — so the list is still with you months later. Read how spaced repetition works if you want the reasoning behind those numbers.
Studying medical english pairs well with our travel English vocabulary, B2 English vocabulary and English small talk phrases, or browse all free English word lists.
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