Swedish healthcare words: a small English glossary
Updated
This glossary can help you recognise words in a booking message or conversation with a clinic. A word's meaning can depend on the sentence and the healthcare context. Ask the service to explain any instruction that is unclear; the list is not a substitute for interpretation or medical advice.
Places and people
- Vårdcentral — primary care centre.
- Mottagning — clinic or outpatient service; the exact meaning depends on the name.
- Akutmottagning — emergency department.
- Läkare — doctor.
- Sjuksköterska — nurse.
- Fysioterapeut — physiotherapist.
- Tolk — interpreter.
When you receive an appointment message, check the full name and address of the service. A hospital can contain several separate clinics, and the department name matters as well as the building.
Appointments and next steps
- Tid / bokad tid — time / booked appointment.
- Återbesök — follow-up appointment.
- Remiss — referral.
- Egen vårdbegäran — a request for care submitted by the patient; availability and handling depend on the service.
- Avbokning — cancellation.
- Ombokning — rescheduling.
- Patientavgift — patient fee.
- Journal — medical record in a healthcare context.
A referral does not by itself tell you the appointment date, price or preparation instructions. Ask the receiving service how the next step works.
During an assessment
- Besvär — symptoms, problems or discomfort, depending on context.
- Undersökning — examination or investigation.
- Prov — test or sample, depending on context.
- Blodprov — blood test or blood sample.
- Urinprov — urine sample or test.
- Röntgen — commonly X-ray, but the word may also appear in the name of an imaging department.
- Magnetkamera / MR — magnetic resonance imaging, MRI.
- Behandling — treatment.
- Biverkning — side effect.
- Provsvar — test result.
You can describe a symptom in everyday words if you do not know a technical term. Saying where it is, when it started and what makes it different from usual is often more useful than guessing a diagnosis word.
Phrases for checking understanding
- “Kan du förklara det?” — “Can you explain that?”
- “Jag behöver en tolk.” — “I need an interpreter.”
- “Vad händer sedan?” — “What happens next?”
- “Hur får jag svaret?” — “How will I receive the result?”
- “Vem ska jag kontakta?” — “Who should I contact?”
For important instructions, ask the clinician to explain the meaning and check your understanding. Request language support when booking if you need it.