📙 Part 2: Describe a person you know who has chosen a career in the medical field. A doctor or a nurse.

This episode's vocabulary

Nurse practitioner (n) – a registered nurse with advanced training, who can diagnose and treat illnesses. → My friend Simon is a nurse practitioner at the local hospital.

Fine details (n) – the small, specific points of a subject. → I don't really know too much about the fine details of his career.

Ins and outs (n) – the detailed and often complicated facts of something. → If we consider the ins and outs of what he does now, I'm actually pretty ignorant about all of it.

Ignorant about (adj) – lacking knowledge or awareness about something. → I'm actually pretty ignorant about all of it.

To the best of my knowledge (phrase) – as far as I know. → To the best of my knowledge, his post is something like a bridge between a doctor and a nurse.

Diagnose (v) – to identify the nature of an illness or other problem by examination of the symptoms. → He has some power to diagnose and treat patients.

The long and short of it (idiom) – the most important facts about a situation. → That's about the long and short of it really.

Brain power (n) – mental capacity or intelligence. → I don't really have the brain power to grasp it.

Grasp (v) – to understand something completely. → I don't really have the brain power to grasp it.

Career path (n) – the sequence of jobs that constitute what a person does for a living. → I imagine he picked that particular career path because there was some chance of progression.

Decent salary (n) – a good or satisfactory amount of money earned. → He chose the job for the chance of progression and a decent salary.

Shift work (n) – a work schedule in which groups of employees work at different times of the day and night. → He does shift work, so that doesn't happen as often as I'd like.

Sense of humor (n) – a person's ability to appreciate humor. → He's a good guy with a fantastic sense of humor.

A way with words (idiom) – a talent for speaking or writing in a clear, interesting, and effective way. → He has a fantastic sense of humor and a way with words.

Questions and Answers

Maria: Describe a person you know who has chosen a career in the medical field. A doctor or a nurse. You should say who he or she is, what he or she does, why he or she chose this career, and explain how you feel about this person. Rory, give us your story.

Rory: Well, I know a lot of people in the medical profession, but the one who most immediately comes to my mind right now is my friend Simon. He's a nurse practitioner at the teaching hospital in my hometown. Speaking about who exactly he is, we've been friends for quite a few years now, and in the time I've known him, he's always been working at Ninewells. That's the name of the hospital complex he works at. Though I don't really know too much about the fine details of his career there, just the job title. If we consider the ins and outs of what he does now, I, like I say, I'm actually pretty ignorant about all of it. But to the best of my knowledge, his post is something like a bridge between a doctor and a nurse. So he has some power to diagnose and treat patients in addition to supervising the work of nurses on the ward that he works on. That's about the long and short of it really. It all sounds very technical when he talks about it at length, and I don't really have the brain power to grasp it, which is probably why I am not a doctor who are working in that field. When I think about why he chose to do that sort of work, I never actually asked him since, people in medicine have pretty stressful lives and I imagine the last thing they'd want to do with their friends is talk about work. Usually we just do other things like share anecdotes and have a laugh together. And I guess though, I imagine he picked that particular career path because there was some chance of progression and a decent salary doing it. He trained at art school before that, and it can be very hard to make money as an artist these days, so that would make sense to me. Though I'd pay him to do painting in my home since he seems to have been quite good at that too. As far as how I feel about him concerned, as with all my friends, I'm very happy to have him in my life and I really enjoy his company when I do get to see him. He does shift work, so that doesn't happen as often as I'd like. Like I say, he's a good guy with a fantastic sense of humor and a way with words. And he's definitely made my life better for being in it.