Reading Worksheets

THE ARTICLE: UK doctors’ drink/drug problem

BNE: The British medical profession has a drink and drug problem, according to a BBC television documentary aired on June 13. Alcohol and substance abuse is becoming disturbingly common among Britain's medical practitioners. The programme claimed that one in 15 doctors and nurses, about 13,000 in total, has an addiction. The BBC discovered that in the past decade, 750 medical staff have been formally disciplined and reprimanded for being drunk or under the influence of drugs while on duty. Reporters also found the medical profession has issued no clear rules governing how much doctors are allowed to drink before going to work. Dr. Michael Wilks, chairman of the British Medical Association’s ethics committee, confessed to reporters that his profession was in denial. He said it needed to acknowledge the fact it had a problem and address the pertinent issues. He told the BBC: “You've got a profession that doesn’t want to face up to the fact that it’s got a problem in the ranks.…You’ve got levels of denial that make it virtually impossible for an alcoholic doctor to be helped.” Dr. Vivienne Nathanson warned that misuse or dependence on alcohol and drugs would adversely affect patient care. She added: “Doctors work in very stressful environments in a culture where it is difficult to seek help."

WARM-UPS:

1. DRINK & DRUGS: Have you ever gone to school or work while under the influence of alcohol or drugs? Have you ever drunk alcohol at school or work? Have you ever encountered someone drunk in his/her job? Talk with your partner(s) about alcohol and drugs in the workplace / school. How would you react if you discovered these people to be drunk?

Your dentist The pilot of your airplane The cashier at the bank A police officer

Your English teacher The doctor about to operate on you The repair person fixing your gas cooker The photographer at your wedding

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words are most interesting and which are most boring.

British doctors / BBC TV / alcoholism / drug addiction / nurses / being in denial / rules / seeking counseling / stress at work / stressful jobs

Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

3. DOCTOR: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with doctors. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

4. DRUNK DOCTORS OPINIONS: Talk with your partner(s) about how far you agree with these opinions:

1. Doctors are human. It’s OK for them to drink too much occasionally.
2. Doctors should be required to abstain completely from alcohol.
3. Being a doctor is stressful. They need to drink.
4. A doctor found to be “over the limit” should be banned from medicine for life.
5. Doctors are crazy to become alcoholics. They know the damage alcohol causes.
6. Alcoholic doctors are probably only in Britain.
7. All medical staff should be breath tested every time they go on duty.
8. There are plenty of jobs more stressful than a doctor’s.

5. STRESS: Which of these jobs do you think are stressful? What are the stresses involved?

- English teacher - Hairdresser - Supermarket cashier

- Doctor - F1 racing driver - U.S. President

- Lawyer - Actor - Artist

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	British doctors are unhappy because they cannot drink alcohol.	T / F
b.	One in 15 British doctors and nurses is addicted to drink or drugs.	T / F
c.	In ten years, 7,500 UK medical staff have been disciplined.	T / F
d.	There are strict rules governing doctors’ alcohol consumption.	T / F
e.	A chief medical official said doctors accepted a problem existed.	T / F
f.	The official said pertinent issues regarding alcohol needed addressing.	T / F
g.	Another official said patient care could never be affected.	T / F
h.	The same official said doctors work in a supportive environment.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

a.	drink	admonished
b.	aired	morality
c.	substance	screened
d.	reprimanded	recognize
e.	governing	alcohol
f.	ethics	relevant
g.	confessed	regulating
h.	pertinent	negatively
i.	face up to	drug
j.	adversely	owned up

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

a.	a drink and	influence of drugs
b.	television documentary	committee
c.	substance	issues
d.	under the	affect patient care
e.	clear	aired on June 13
f.	ethics	rules
g.	his profession was in	drug problem
h.	acknowledge	denial
i.	pertinent	abuse
j.	adversely	the fact

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘medical’ and ‘profession’.

• Share your findings with your partners.
• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the gap fill. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. STUDENT DOCTORS SURVEY: In pairs / groups write down questions about doctors and their professional responsibilities.

• Ask other classmates your questions and note down their answers.
• Go back to your original partner / group and compare your findings.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

6. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:

·         profession ·         disturbingly ·         one ·         decade ·         reprimanded ·         influence

·         ethics ·         denial ·         pertinent ·         ranks ·         dependence ·         culture