Step by Step 3000 第2册 Unit10:Health(4)

 　　Part 4. Doctors on the Internet.

　　Keywords. practice medicine, diagnose, prescribe, advise, patient-physician relationship.

　　Vocabulary. dietician, clearing house, board-certified, credentials¹, anecdotal, cautionary.

　　Owings Mills, America's Doctor Online, Amdoc Number 3, American Medical Association.

　　A. You're going to hear a news report on the responsibilities for internet doctors.

　　Listen carefully and complete the following chart.

　　Is there a doctor in the house? The answer is always yes, if you have a computer and a modem² at home.

　　Did you forget to ask your doctor an important question on your last visit? Has another issue come up?

　　No problem. You can get in touch with the a doctor via the Internet at any hour of the day or night.

　　In just the past few months, hundreds of doctors have gone on line 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

　　Owings Mills, Maryland in the Washington DC suburbs is the headquarters of "America's Doctor Online".

　　42 primary care doctors, as well as dieticians and pharmacists provide free information to callers with health questions.

　　The firm's founder³ is Dr Scott Rifkin.

　　"We are not trying to practice medicine. We're trying to give consumers good information on their various healthcare issues.

　　We are not going to diagnose. We are not going to prescribe.

　　We are going to listen to the consumer, and have them ask us questions and then give them information that they most need.

　　The idea is to give them directed information that's usable to the consumer."

　　Dr Rifkin told ABC News that America's Doctor Online acts as a clearing houses for the hundreds of thousands of responses a web browser⁴ might turn up in answer to a question.

　　The Online health professionals don't diagnose or treat medical conditions.

　　And they don't charge for their services.

　　They are not known by their names, but by Amdoc Number 3 or 4 or whatever.

　　"Our physicians are very carefully trained to not practice medicine and to always refer their consumer back to their own physician or to their local resources, their local hospitals."

　　Unlike Dr Rifkin, Florida emergency care physician, Dr Tom Caffery, has founded a website of board-certified doctors who do practice medicine.

　　They make virtual house calls at about 50 dollars a visit and diagnose, advise and prescribe medicine to hundreds of patients daily.

　　"We are the only site on the Internet where you can pick a doctor who is board-certified, see his credentials, know who you are speaking with.

　　And we're there 24 hours, 7 days a week. It's the return of a house call. This time it's electronic."

　　Dr Caffrey believes that the Internet medicine is inevitable⁵ and provides a useful service.

　　"I am very comfortable with what we are doing.

　　We want to help set the standard for this because it is coming.

　　You can't stop this. It is going to happen."

　　There is anecdotal information about other online doctors prescribing harmful drugs and giving bad advice.

　　And the president of the American Medical Association, Dr Thomas Reardon, believes that doctors simply should not practice medicine over the Internet.

　　"I don't think it's ethical⁶.

　　I think it's unethical to diagnose and prescribe over the Internet without having a patient-physician relationship."

　　Drugs carry cautionary labels. Perhaps these websites should carry warning labels, also, such as "Check out the doctors' credentials",

　　"Protect your privacy with secure sites", "Sharing what you learn with your own doctor", "Never go on line in a medical emergency".

　　And the big question remains⁷ unanswered, whether Internet doctors should practice medicine or only advise.

　　B. Listen again. Match column A with column B.

1 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。

2 modem   

n.调制解调器

参考例句：

• Does your computer have a modem?你的电脑有调制解调器吗？
• Provides a connection to your computer via a modem.通过调制解调器连接到计算机上。

3 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

4 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

5 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

6 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。