环球英语 — 167：Health Worker Diaries: Pharmacist

　　Voice 1
Thank you for joining us for today’s Spotlight¹ program. I’m Joshua Leo.
Voice 2
And I’m Rebekah Schipper. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 3
“Health workers are saving² lives every day all over the world, whether they boil a container of water, lovingly wash a newborn baby, ride a bicycle ten miles to give a valuable drug vaccine³, or educate twenty women in a far away village.”
Voice 1
Doctor John Agwunobi said this. He works⁴ at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He was speaking at the World Health Day conference for 2006.
Voice 2
Health workers are very important. After this conference, the World Health Organization, the WHO, began a new project. This project would honour health workers. The WHO wanted people around the world to know about all the different and necessary things health workers around the world do.
Voice 1
For this project, the ‘Health Worker Diaries,’ the WHO invited health workers from around the world to write to them. They wanted to hear about a single day in the life of a health worker. Loh Chin Siew was one health worker who wrote back. Loh works at the Drug and Poison Information Centre at Singapore General Hospital.
Voice 2
Loh describes a normal day at her job.
Voice 4
“I spend a large part of each day on the telephone, both with doctors and with worried people calling our twenty-four-hour hotline.”
Voice 1
The Drug and Poison Information Centre is a resource for people who have questions about medical drugs. Any person can call to get information about a drug or poison - even doctors. And they can call at any time. The Centre is open twenty four [24] hours a day, and seven [7] days a week.
Voice 4
“A doctor calls from the Accident and Emergency Department of a hospital. An unconscious man has just been brought in by ambulance. He looks like he is sleeping. But he will not wake up. His friend told the doctor the man drank liquid from a bottle about an hour ago. The man lost consciousness⁵ shortly after that. The patient’s mouth is wet. The black parts of his eyes have become very small. And his leg muscles are moving uncontrollably.”
“These physical signs, or symptoms, suggest poisoning by a chemical - organophosphate insecticide. I advise the doctor to ... give the patient the drugs atropine and pralidoxime. They are cures for this kind of poisoning. I know that with this treatment, the man has an excellent chance for full recovery⁶.”
Voice 2
There are thousands of different drugs. And each one affects the body differently. Too much, or the wrong kind of a particular drug can be harmful to a person’s body. Two drugs can react to each other badly. But who knows how each drug reacts to another? Well, that is Loh’s job.
Voice 4
“Another doctor from the hospital calls. He asks if there will be any drug interaction⁷ between two medicines. The patient has been taking one medicine for some time. But the doctor wants to give her another medicine for one week. There could be a small problem. So I advise him to ... observe the medicine levels during treatment.”
Voice 1
Often, Loh gets calls about the amount of a drug a person has taken. Drugs affect people differently depending on how old a person is and how much they weigh. Loh must often calculate⁸ if a medicine will be effective or even dangerous. Using a person’s age, weight, and other things, she uses mathematics to see if the drug will be harmful.
Voice 4
“A young doctor calls and asks if he should start the medicine N-acetylcysteine in his patient. The patient is a twenty-one year old woman weighing fifty kilograms. She took thirty tablets⁹ of the drug paracetamol two hours ago. I confirm that ... that is too many tablets for a woman of that size and age to take. It could be deadly. So I tell the doctor ... yes, you should begin the treatment.”
“A young mother of a two year old boy...calls in a state of extreme worry. She has accidentally¹⁰ given him two times the suggested amount of antihistamine¹¹. I start by telling her ... stay calm, all will be well. At the same time, I calculate the correct amount of antihistamine for each kilogram. Very quickly I tell her... your baby will be fine. But he may experience some tiredness.”
Voice 2
Sometimes Loh gets calls that do not have to do with drugs at all. But she can still help.
Voice 4
“Another mother calls to ask if she needs to bring her one year old child to hospital... She caught him eating small round silica beads¹². I tell her... you do not need to worry unless your son is choking and cannot breathe. The beads are not chemically harmful. They will pass through his body naturally.”
Voice 1
At the centre, Loh does much more than just answer the telephone.
Voice 4
“We do not just talk on the phone at the centre. It is also a place of learning¹³. We have no official training in managing poisons at the National University of Singapore. That is where I studied. So we must learn while we work. I finished school with a degree in Pharmacy¹⁴ in 2003. Then I completed a nine month internship¹⁵ at Singapore General Hospital. After that, I immediately started on-the-job training at the Drug and Poison Information Centre. It was set up the same year. I continue to learn, but now I am also a teacher.”
“If there are students working with us, I spend time discussing methods of treatment and drug information skills with them. Sometimes I make presentations on new drugs to the students or to the hospital’s other pharmacists.”
Voice 2
Loh is very proud of what she does. She has worked hard to succeed at her job. And she knows that she is helping¹⁶ many people. She always finds out if her advice was helpful.
Voice 4
“I always follow up on my cases to make sure our advice has had a good result.”
Voice 1
The health of our world depends on health workers like Loh. In the beginning of this program you heard a saying from Doctor John Agwunobi. He described all the different kinds of things that health workers do. Some health workers are educated, like Loh. And some are not. But all are important for preserving and improving world health.
Voice 2
Many of Loh’s words were adapted into Specialized¹⁷ English to make them easier to understand. The information in this program came from the WHO’s website.
 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 saving   

n.节省，节约；[pl.]储蓄金，存款

参考例句：

• Energy saving is term strategic policy of our country.节约能源是我国长期的战略国策。
• Old-fashioned housewives were usually very saving.旧时的家庭主妇通常都很节俭。

3 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

4 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

5 consciousness   

n.意识，觉悟，知觉

参考例句：

• The experience helped to change her social consciousness.这种经验有助于改变她的社会意识。
• He lost consciousness at the first whiff of ether.他一嗅到乙醚便失去了知觉。

6 recovery   

n.恢复，痊愈；追回，寻回，收复

参考例句：

• The doctors said that his recovery was a miracle. 医生们说他的复原是件奇事。
• The quick recovery was truly in response to medication.这次迅速康复确实是对药物治疗的反应。

7 interaction   

n.交流；相互作用，相互影响，合作

参考例句：

• The interaction of the two groups produced many good ideas.两个组的相互交流产生了许多好主意。
• Price is determined through the interaction of demand and supply.价格在供需的相互作用中形成。

8 calculate   

vt.计算，核算；估计，推测；计划，打算

参考例句：

• He must calculate the probability of failure.他必须计算一下失败的概率。
• I'll calculate what it will cost.我要估计一下那要花多少钱。

9 tablets   

n.药片( tablet的名词复数 )；（木、竹）简；碑；一块肥皂

参考例句：

• The tablets may make you feel drowsy. 这药片可能会使你昏昏欲睡。
• Take two tablets with water before meals. 每次两片，饭前用水冲服。

10 accidentally   

adv.偶然地；意外地

参考例句：

• Mary accidentally let out that her mother had telephoned.玛丽无意中说出她的母亲来过电话。
• As I turned around,I accidentally hit him in the face.我转身时不经意撞了他的脸。

11 antihistamine   

n.抗组胺剂

参考例句：

• Taking an antihistamine isn't the only way to battle seasonal allergies.采取抗组织胺并不是唯一防止季节性过敏的方法。
• Antihistamine drugs may offer an effective treatment.抗组胺剂药物可以提供比较有效的治疗。

12 beads   

n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链

参考例句：

• a necklace of wooden beads 一条木珠项链
• Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. 他的前额上挂着汗珠。

13 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

14 pharmacy   

n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品

参考例句：

• She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
• Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。

15 internship   

n.实习医师，实习医师期

参考例句：

• an internship at a television station 在电视台的实习期
• a summer internship with a small stipend 薪水微薄的暑期实习

16 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

17 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。