Portuguese · B1 (Intermediate)
Medical in Portuguese: Words & Phrases
Quick answer: The most useful Portuguese words for medical are o Serviço Nacional de Saúde (SNS) (the National Health Service), o médico de família (the GP / family doctor) and prescrever (to prescribe). The full Portuguese medical phrase list with example sentences is below.
The essential Portuguese vocabulary for medical, with example sentences and English translations. This is B1 (Intermediate) material — exactly the kind of practical language you need when you're learning Portuguese to live, work, or settle abroad.
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Key medical vocabulary
| Portuguese | English |
|---|---|
| o Serviço Nacional de Saúde (SNS) | the National Health Service |
| o médico de família | the GP / family doctor |
| prescrever | to prescribe |
| a receita | the prescription |
| a referenciação | the referral to specialist |
| o especialista | the specialist |
| o cartão de utente | the health user card |
| as urgências | A&E / emergency room |
| alérgico/a | allergic |
| a taxa moderadora | the patient copayment |
Example sentences
Estou inscrito no SNS.
I am registered with the NHS.
Tenho consulta com o médico de família.
I have an appointment with my GP.
O médico prescreveu-me antibióticos.
The doctor prescribed me antibiotics.
Preciso de levantar a receita na farmácia.
I need to collect the prescription at the pharmacy.
Tem o cartão de utente?
Do you have your health user card?
Sou alérgico à penicilina.
I am allergic to penicillin.
How to actually learn these
Reading a vocabulary list is not the same as being able to use the words when it counts. Research on adult language acquisition consistently shows that vocabulary retained through contextual use — hearing a word, producing it under mild pressure, and being corrected when you get it wrong — transfers to real speech far more effectively than passive list review. The fastest way to make vocabulary like this stick is to practise it in the actual conversations where it comes up: not drills, but a real back-and-forth where you have to retrieve the word and say it aloud. Language Lab turns vocabulary like this into voiced, real-life scenarios with Sonia, a live AI language tutor who holds real conversations, corrects you in context, and remembers the specific words you keep getting wrong across sessions. The vocabulary stops being something you read and becomes something you say — automatically, under pressure, when you actually need it.
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