Before reading the text, answer the following questions.

1. How many medical checks-up and examinations do you have a year?

2. What medical specialists do you usually visit? What for?

3. Do you know any diseases and potential risks connected with your future profession? If yes, which ones?

4. There is an opinion that pilots’ job requires them to be supermen. Do you agree or not? Prove your idea.

5. Why do pilots have to undergo regular medical checks and examinations?

6. What standards are pilots required to meet?

7. What is the purpose of Medical Examination? How is it achieved?

Aviation Medicine

Just as aircraft are required to undergo regular checks and maintenance, pilots are also required to undergo regular medical examinations to ensure their fitness to fly. The physical standards pilots are required to meet are minimum standards. Pilots do not have to be supermen to fly. Many defects can be compensated for, as, for example, wearing glasses for visual defects.

These specialized medical exams consist of physical examinations performed by Aviation Medical Examiners, doctors trained to screen potential aircrew for medical conditions that could lead to problems while performing their airborne duties.

The goal of the Medical Examination is to protect the life and health of pilots and passengers by making reasonable medical assurance that a person is fit to fly.

Among the Aviation Medical Examiners there are doctors of different specialities: cardiologist, surgeon, dentist, dermatologist, endocrinologist, gastroenterologist, ophthalmologist, oral surgeon, neurologist, neuropathist, physician, psychiatrist, psychologist.

Air crews are a high-risk group to several diseases and harmful conditions due to irregular work shifts with irregular sleeping, jet lag and irregular meals and work-related stress. There are some professional diseases pilots might suffer from: stomach ulcer, hearing loss or even deafness, atherosclerosis, ischemia, heart problems, high-blood pressure (hypertension), haemorrhoids.

Now answer the questions given before the text once again.

Match the medical profession with its definition.

1. A doctor whose job is to perform operations on people’s mouth and teeth	a) psychiatrist
2. A doctor who treats people with mental illnesses	b) dentist
3. A doctor who studies how people’s minds work and the way it affects their behaviour	c) neurologist
4. A medical specialist who deals with heart problems and the diseases that affect the heart	d) psychologist
5. A doctor who treats people who have skin diseases	e) ophthalmologist
6. A medical specialist who is an expert in illnesses of the eyes and who can perform operations on people’s eyes	f) surgeon
7. A doctor who is trained to perform operations involving cutting, usually in a hospital	g) dermatologist
8. A medical specialist who studies the people’s nervous system and the diseases that affect it	h) oral surgeon
9. A doctor whose job is to examine and treat people’s teeth	i) cardiologist

4.  Give the definitions to: endocrinologist, gastroenterologist, neuropathist, physician.

Make a report on one of the following topics dealing with improving one’s health and moral condition. Give as many ideas as you can. Use additional sources for your report.

· Regular exercises are very important to feel well.

· It’s necessary to go in for sport to keep fit.

· Unhealthy habits can ruin people’s health and life.

· Our health depends on what we eat.

· It’s important to have regular rest.

· Hobbies and favourite activities help us to feel up and well.

Read the text and answer the questions that follow.

Infectious Diseases

An infectious disease is a disease resulting from the presence of microbial agents. They are also called contagious diseases. They can be transmitted from one person or species to another. Transmission of an infectious disease may occur through one or more pathways including physical contact with infected individuals. The infecting agents may also be transmitted through liquids, food, body fluids, contaminated objects, airborne inhalation, and so on.

Infectious diseases can cause problems for international flights. As air companies have to fly to different parts of the world and tropical countries as well, the crew and the passengers should be made aware of the risks of catching such diseases as malaria, bird flu (Avian Influenza), the so called swine flu, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and some others. In order to prevent the spread of such diseases, each aircraft performing an international flight has to undergo a special medical check upon arrival.

When an aircraft arrives at an international airport, a representative of Port Health comes on board and asks the captain and the purser if there are any sick occupants. In case there are some, the plane is put into the quarantine.

1. What are infectious diseases? What do they result from?

2. How are infectious diseases transmitted?

3. Why do they cause problems to international flights?

4. Name some of infectious diseases. What are their sympthoms?

5. What are the ways to stop the spread of infectious diseases?

7. Make word-collocations using the following nouns: disease, agents, people, person, quarantine, objects, liquids, food, airborne inhalation and the words from the box and use them in your own sentences. Some nouns can be used more than ones.