English Practice For Healthcare

This is a podcast designed to support your English language learning. The language level is intermediate and above but I encourage anyone who is learning English to have a listen to hear some authentic English language input. You can also listen with the transcripts, which are available for free on my website (see link below).

The topics are based on healthcare and peoples personal experiences with their health. My background is in nursing so this is something I find really interesting to talk about with people. It's particularly useful if you are a healthcare professional learning English as you can hear colloquial expressions and different English accents.

There are activities set for each episode to help you develop your listening skills but these are optional. You can listen anyway you like! If you like the show please follow me and let me know what you think. You can find out more about me and get in touch at https://englishpracticeforhealthcare.com.

Please note this is not a source of medical advice or intended for you to use to make medical decisions. The opinions expressed are entirely those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the UK health service or any other health organisations or charities.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last refreshed: December 28th, 2025 at 4:47 PM ⓘ

Follow this podcast in the Metacast mobile app to refresh it and see new episodes.

Follow on

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

RSS

Podcasts are better in Metacast mobile app

Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more

Episodes

English Practice For Healthcare - Episode 10

In the tenth episode of English Practice for Healthcare we hear from George and Theresa about George’s experience of type 2 diabetes. Every healthcare professional will come across a patient with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes and this long-term condition needs to be considered when formulating their care plan. Diabetes is an area of healthcare in its own right and in both a community and hospital environment there will be specialist teams you can consult for support in caring for patients wit...

Jul 18, 2024•26 min•Season 1Ep. 10

English Practice For Healthcare - Episode 09

In my ninth episode there is the opportunity to hear three examples of different English idioms as you listen to Lynne and I’s discussion of her experience of the menopause. There are again many points you can reflect on, which means to think carefully about something and consider different possibilities, opinions, and approaches to something. Reflection is an important skill in healthcare, and it helps us to continuously improve the care we deliver. I recommend the UK organisation ‘The Menopaus...

May 01, 2024•35 min•Season 1Ep. 9

English Practice For Healthcare - Episode 08

In this episode you can continue to build on your knowledge of the storytelling tenses for past events used in English from the last two episodes. Anne, like Kevin is describing something that happened over 10 years ago. Also, like Kevin, she can remember what happened in great detail as she shares a very significant health event in her life, having a stroke. There is the opportunity to reflect on the different ways stroke and stroke recovery affect people and use this as a platform for your own...

Mar 29, 2024•31 min•Season 1Ep. 8

English Practice For Healthcare - Episode 07

Disclaimer: please note this episode contains quite graphic descriptions of medical procedures involving bones. This is part two of the interview with Kevin, which covers the theme of broken bones. In this episode you can learn more about how external fixators work in orthopaedic surgery and about some of the adaptations people have to make to daily life with these on. Including to the clothes they wear! There is another example of an idiom and more opportunities to hear some descriptive languag...

Mar 08, 2024•25 min•Season 1Ep. 7

English Practice For Healthcare - Episode 06

Disclaimer: please note this episode contains quite graphic descriptions of surgery. In the sixth episode we hear from Kevin about how he seriously broke his leg while skiing in France. You can hear lots of useful examples of the simple past perfect and present perfect continuous tense. This is because these tenses are often used when we are retelling a story of something that happened in the past. This is part one of this two-part interview with Kevin as there was too much to include in just on...

Feb 26, 2024•27 min•Season 1Ep. 6

English Practice For Healthcare - Episode 05

In this episode you have the opportunity to hear a strong example of a Yorkshire accent. Mark talks about being gluten intolerant, what symptoms he gets if he consumes gluten, and he also teaches us a lot about the beer making process! I discuss the importance of the terminology and language we use when talking about conditions that require patients to follow a gluten free lifestyle. For example, coeliac disease. For more information about these conditions please see the website of the charity C...

Feb 07, 2024•28 min•Season 1Ep. 5

English Practice For Healthcare - Episode 04

Disclaimer: Please note there is one instance of swearing in this episode used by the interviewee in a description of his ear issues. In the fourth episode you can learn about ear problems, the language used to describe having an ear infection and hear how this affects Jack in his day-to-day life. There is some useful language on describing pain and how to talk about different types of pain in more detail. You can also hear about Jack and I’s own experience of visiting a healthcare centre in a c...

Jan 24, 2024•27 min•Season 1Ep. 4

English Practice For Healthcare - Episode 03

In the third episode you can improve your listening skills and your range of vocabulary to talk about Crohn’s disease. Vicky gives an honest account of Crohn’s diagnosis, how it made her feel and her experience of different treatments. She talks about the different healthcare professionals she worked with, including research nurses and Registrars. Registrars are doctors that are in their training to become specialists in a certain area of medicine. They have a number of years’ experience of bein...

Dec 16, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 3

English Practice For Healthcare - Episode 02

In this episode, Olga recounts her difficult pregnancy journey, marked by Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HGV), a severe form of morning sickness that affected her day-to-day life significantly. She discusses the intense, all-day nausea, how it impacted her ability to exercise and eat, and her struggle to get a diagnosis despite initial medical skepticism. Olga also shares her coping mechanisms, including prescribed medication, and reflects on the surprising lack of scientific research into pregnancy-related conditions like HGV.

Nov 13, 2023•24 min•Season 1Ep. 2

English Practice For Healthcare - Debut Episode

This is the first episode in a series of interviews with English speakers about their personal health experiences. They are designed to support your English language learning in the context of healthcare, especially your listening skills. In this episode I talk to Tim about his experience of 'post-concussion syndrome’. He talks us through what happened, and his main symptoms. We discuss how these symptoms affected his life both at the time of his accident and now. This demonstrates the wide-reac...

Oct 31, 2023•23 min•Season 1Ep. 1

For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android