Hello, my name is Emma, in today's video,
I am going to teach you some great sentences and expressions and vocabulary we use when
we are going to the pharmacy. So, and I'll also tell you what a pharmacy
is, because maybe you've never heard that word before. So, let's get started. So, a pharmacy is a place, and it's a place
you go when you need to get medication or medicine, okay? So, another word for pharmacy is drugstore. So, you can say either pharmacy or drugstore. Pharmacy has a weird spelling, you'll notice
it's spelled with "ph", pharmacy, so just looking at that "ph" might be confusing. But the way it's pronounced is "farm-a-see". Pharmacy. Okay? So, don't spell it like this, but this is
how we pronounce it. So, you go to the pharmacy after you see the
doctor and you go there to get your medication. So, like I said, why do you go to the pharmacy? You go there to get your medication, medicine
or drugs. These are all words for the same thing. Now, you might have heard the word "drug"
before and you might think, wait a second, drugs, isn't that bad? In English, "drugs", there are two meanings. We can talk about drugs that are illegal,
so these are the ones that are against the law. So, for example, heroin or cocaine, these
are illegal drugs. If you go to the pharmacy, you cannot get
illegal drugs. I know I'm calling it a drugstore, but they
do not sell those kinds of drugs. What kind of drugs do they sell? They sell prescription drugs. A prescription drug is another way to say
a medication. And it's a medication that your doctor is
saying you should take. So, to get a prescription, you need to go
see a doctor and the doctor gives you a note telling you what medication to take. We call these prescription drugs. You can find prescription drugs at the drugstore
or the pharmacy. Something else you can find at the pharmacy
is over the counter drugs. Over the counter drugs are different than
prescription drugs. Prescription drugs, you need a doctor to say,
"Take this". But over the counter drugs, you do not need
a prescription. They are medication or medicine that anyone
can buy. So, for example, if you have a headache, you
can buy Tylenol, and that is an over the counter drug. You do not need a prescription. Okay, so we've covered why you might go to
a pharmacy and that we also call it a drugstore. What else can we say about pharmacies? Well, we can talk about who works at a pharmacy. What people might you see at a pharmacy? First of all, you might see a pharmacist. What is a pharmacist? A pharmacist is a person who works at the
pharmacy. They are an expert in medication. They have taken a lot of education to become
a pharmacist. They are usually the people working in the
back of the pharmacy. You might also see a clerk or a pharmacy assistant. These people help the pharmacist. They are not the pharmacist, but they can
help the pharmacist, and they are the ones you usually talk to first. When you go to the pharmacy, you will often
bring your prescription and give it to the clerk or the pharmacy assistant and the pharmacist
with put your medication into a bottle and prepare it for you. So now, let's look at some other words we
need to know for when we go to the pharmacy. Okay, so you're at the pharmacy or drugstore,
and you have your prescription. You've seen the doctor and there's medicine
you need. So, what do you do? Well, first step is usually, at a pharmacy,
you might see two signs. You might see the sign that says "Drop off"
and you might see a sign that says "Pick up". So, if you go to where it says "Drop off",
that is where you go first. And that is where you hand your prescription
from the doctor to the pharmacy assistant, the pharmacist, or the clerk. Whoever is working there. And then - so that's the first step. You give them your prescription. And then usually, you have to wait while the
pharmacist prepares your prescription. And once the prescription is ready, you go
the third step, which is the "Pick up". You go to the sign that says "Pick up", and
this is where they give you your medicine. So, three steps. Go to "Drop off", wait, and then you go and
you pick up your medication. So, this seems really simple, but I remember
when I was a teenager picking up medicine. I'd get confused and sometimes I'd go here
first, and then they'd tell me, "No, no, you've got to go to drop off". So, it's simple, but you need to know this
is how it works. So, there's two words we often use when we
talk about medication. And they're very important words if you want
to save money. So, those words are "generic" and "brand". Usually, medications have - you might have
the same medication and in one case, there's a brand name, okay? So, it's a famous name that makes that medication. And brand names are usually very popular and
they spend a lot of money on advertising. And so, their medicine costs a lot more money. Sometimes, there's a cheaper brand that they
call the generic, and that's where - it doesn't have a name, or the name is not well known. So, it's the cheaper form of the medicine. Same medicine, but it just doesn't have all
the advertising. So, we call that the generic. The thing to remember is the generic is the
cheap form of the medicine. The brand is the expensive form. So, it's always a good idea when you're at
the pharmacy to say, "Is there a generic?" Meaning, is there a cheaper form of this medication? And the pharmacist can tell you, "Yes, there
is", or "No, there isn't. There's only the brand name." But it's a good idea, because you can save
a lot of money that way. So, let's look at some things you might do
while you're at the pharmacy. So, like I said, the first step is going and
dropping off your prescription. This is a great expression we use when we
do that. We say to the pharmacist or the pharmacy assistant,
"I'd like to get my prescription filled." And so, the word we use with prescription,
the verb we're using is "filled". I'd like to get my prescription filled. We might also ask to speak to a pharmacist. "Can I speak to a pharmacist, please?" And we might do this if we have questions
about our medication. For example, you might want to ask, "What
are the side effects?" Side effects is - it's an important vocabulary
word or words that we use a lot when we talk about medication. The side effect is the - what the medication
can do to you that might not be a good thing. So, usually, medications can help you, but
sometimes, they have bad things that they can do to you, too. So, maybe they help your cold, but maybe they
make you very tired. Or maybe they make your eyes have trouble
in sunlight. So, it's a good idea to ask the pharmacist,
"What are the side effects?" Now, let's look at a couple of more actions
you can do at a pharmacy, so you will be ready to go the next time you need to get medication. Okay, so you've had your prescription filled,
you've dropped off your prescription, you've had it filled, you've waited, and now it's
time to pick up your prescription. So, we're at the pick up part of the counter. This is where you pay, and you often get asked
certain questions. You might be asked about your insurance. So, they might ask you, "Do you have coverage?" So, this means, do you have insurance? And if you have insurance, then you can say,
"Yes, I have coverage" and you give them your insurance information. But if you don't have coverage, what you can
say is, "I will pay out of pocket". When you pay out of pocket, that means you're
not using insurance, you're paying for your medication. I need to pay out of pocket. So, these are two great expressions you will
likely hear if you're at the pharmacy. Okay, so they will also tell you how to take
your medication. When we're talking about how much medication
to take and how often, what we're talking about is dosage. So, if you ask a pharmacist, you can say,
"What is the dosage?" That means, how much medication do I take,
and how often do I take it? So, the pharmacist might tell you, you might
have to take a pill, a tablet, a pill and a tablet mean the same thing, okay? There might be a slightly different meaning,
but in general when we're talking about pills and tablets, they're synonyms, they mean the
same thing. So, you might have to take a pill and if you
take a pill or a tablet, they might tell you something like, "You need to take two tablets
or two pills", so this answers, "How much?" "at bedtime for two weeks." "For two weeks" is "How often?". So, this is an example of what they might
say for your dosage, okay? So, this example is your dosage. You might also have to take medication in
a fluid or liquid form. It might not be a pill. So, they might tell you, you need to take
a liquid dose. A dose means - it's another way to say amount. And so, for this, you might see words like,
"tsp", which means "teaspoon", which is a measuring amount, or you might see - there
are different ways to measure. You might see tablespoon or just a couple
of drops. So, it's good to figure out what these words
mean, okay? And if you don't know, you can always ask
the pharmacist. I don't know what tsp means; can you tell
me how much? And they will be happy to help you with that. Alright, so now, just a couple more things
about medication and then we'll be finished for today. Okay, so the last thing I wanted to talk about
is how pharmacists might give you directions on how to take your medication. This is really important to listen to. So, they will often give you directions. And sometimes, these directions are also written
on the label of the medicine. Here are some examples of directions that
you might see. You might see something that says, "Do not
exceed". Do not exceed five pills, do not exceed ten
tablets in a day. What does it mean when we say "Do not exceed?" Well, what it means is don't take more than. So, sometimes, for example, with Tylenol,
you can take a certain number of pills in a day. And on the bottle, it will say, "Do not exceed"
this number, meaning don't take more than this. If you take more than this, you might have
very bad side effects. We often see the word "empty stomach". For some medications, they work better if
you do not eat before or when taking them. We call this an "empty stomach". So, the pharmacist might say, "Take your medication
on an empty stomach", which means don't eat when you take this medication. Sometimes, pharmacists might tell you the
opposite. When you take this medication, make sure you
eat. Take this with food. Or, they might talk to you about drinks, you
know. Do not take this medication with milk. For a lot of medications, you're not supposed
to take with milk, so this might be a direction you get. You might also be told, "This medication needs
to stay cold". Keep it in the refrigerator. Refrigerate this medication, meaning keep
it in the refrigerator. So, pay attention to what the pharmacist tells
you and when you're learning another language, there can be a lot of information coming at
you, especially when you're at the pharmacy. The pharmacist can sometimes talk a little
fast. There's a lot of different instructions. Even if English is your first language, you
can get very confused at the pharmacy. So, it's very important if you don't understand
something, ask. Or, if you missed what the pharmacist said,
ask them, "Can you repeat that? Sorry, I didn't quite catch that." Really good to ask. The other thing that's really important to
do is confirm what you hear. So, the pharmacist says, you know, make sure
you take this on an empty stomach and do not exceed more than five pills in a day. And you're like wow, okay. Let me get this straight, just to confirm,
you said, "Do not exceed this many pills in a day and take this on an empty stomach." By confirming, the pharmacist will then tell
you, "Yes, that's what I said", or "No, what I said is this". Because medication can be dangerous and can
have side effects, it's really a good idea to confirm what you hear with the pharmacist
just to make sure you understand everything correctly. So, we have covered a lot of different expressions,
a lot of different words today. I hope you feel more confident for when you
go to the pharmacist. Again, learning the words and understanding
what will happen at a pharmacist will help you be better prepared so you can understand
more of what you hear. I want to thank you for watching this video,
and I also want to encourage you to check out www.engvid.com . There, you can actually
do a quiz to make sure you understand all of these words and to practice them so you're
even more ready for when you go to the pharmacy. I'd also like to invite you to subscribe to
my channel. There, you can find a lot of other videos
on many different topics, including expressions, vocabulary, writing, reading, and a whole
lot more. Just don't forget to ring the bell, that will
help to make sure that you are actually subscribed. And finally, I'd like to invite you to check
out my website at www.teacheremma.com. There, you can find more free resources on
learning English. So, thank you so much for watching, and until
next time, take care.
