Common English Mistakes in Medical Reports by Italian Speakers

This page focuses on errors typically made by native Italian speakers from Italy when writing a Medical Report in English.

Mistake Example #1

Using direct translations from Italian (e.g., 'We see us tomorrow' instead of 'See you tomorrow')

PThe patient is a male of 45 years oldwho presented with pain in the chest sincetwo daysago. We have done theblood tests, and the results show that he haves high levels of cholesterol. It is important that he follow a diet low in fats and wesee us again in one week for further evaluation.

Text corrected by:
Vince, United States

"Your ideas were clear :) I just made a few small changes to correct grammar errors. "

The patient is a male of 45 years who presented with pain in the chest two days ago. We have done blood tests, and the results show that he has high levels of cholesterol. It is important that he follow a diet low in fats and see us again in one week for further evaluation.

Patient is a male of 45 years old who present with pain in the chest since two days. We have done the blood tests and the results show that he have high levels of cholesterol. It is important that he follow a diet low in fats and we see us again in one week for further evaluation.

Mistake Example #2

Overuse of passive voice

The hospitatient wasl admitted to the hospatiental with symptoms ofa severe headache and dizziness. IThe medicaltweasm decided thato perform a CT scanwould be performed to rule out any serious conditions. After completingthe scanwas completed, itwashey observedthat there was no evidence of bleeding in the brain. The padoctient was thenor prescribed medication for pain management and wasadvised the patient to rest.

Text corrected by:
Gregg, Los Angeles, CA

"This needed some tweaks to remove instances of passive voice."

The hospital admitted the patient with symptoms of a severe headache and dizziness. The medical team decided to perform a CT scan to rule out any serious conditions. After completing the scan, they observed no evidence of bleeding in the brain. The doctor prescribed medication for pain management and advised the patient to rest.

The patient was admitted to the hospital with symptoms of severe headache and dizziness. It was decided that a CT scan would be performed to rule out any serious conditions. After the scan was completed, it was observed that there was no evidence of bleeding in the brain. The patient was then prescribed medication for pain management and was advised to rest.

Mistake Example #3

Confusing singular and plural nouns

The patient presents with a complaint of headache that haves persisted for several days. Upon examination, there is no sign of infection or inflammations, but further tests are recommended to rule out any underlying conditions. The family history reveals that migraines are common iamong the relatives, which could be a contributing factor to the symptoms.

Text corrected by:
Jennifer, Detroit, Michigan USA

"Good work! I fixed some problems with singular vs. plural nouns and made a few additional changes to the text."

The patient presents with a complaint of headache that has persisted for several days. Upon examination, there is no sign of infection or inflammation, but further tests are recommended to rule out any underlying conditions. The family history reveals that migraines are common among the relatives, which could be a contributing factor to the symptoms.

The patient present with a complaint of headache that have persisted for several day. Upon examination, there is no sign of infection or inflammations, but further test are recommended to rule out any underlying condition. The family history reveal that migraines are common in the relatives, which could be a contributing factor to the symptom.