A handbook of practical medical terms (English/ Chinese), third edition

The aim of the handbook is to improve communication skills of doctors; one can broadly distinguish two target groups: (1) doctors interacting with their patients and relatives; and (2) medical professionals who want to improve their use of Chinese as the major medium of communication to other doctors (eg from mainland China or Taiwan). Another aim is to improve communication between doctors and the public in Hong Kong. However, many translations in the book are very technical in Chinese; thus, the public may still have the problem of understanding certain Chinese terms quoted. This problem is more related to the unfamiliarity of the general public in Hong Kong about medical terms in Chinese and, in particular, in Cantonese (the local dialect). Nevertheless, for the more common diseases encountered in clinical practice, the translations seem to be adequate.