Shadowing Practice: 7 Tips to Make Sure Medical Information Online Is Valid - Learn English Speaking with Video
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How do you know if the information you are getting online is legit?
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That's easy.
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Watch our channel.
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We are the authority on everything.
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Welcome to Talking With Docs.
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I'm Dr. Brad Whittington.
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I'm Dr. Paul Zapp.
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Obviously joking.
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That's not true.
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No. Are you listening to a couple of guys in blue scrubs and blue caps when you're saying, Wait a minute.
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Oh, first of all, we're wearing these because we're in an operating room
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because we're going to operate in like 20 minutes from now.
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So people that say, hey, what's with the costumes and the do -rags and the outfits?
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That's why.
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All right, so we just want to give you some guidelines because we search
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a lot of stuff social media all the time to get health information, right, but it's important to know
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What information you're getting is good information right from a health point of view and what is
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Entertainment but not really good health information.
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Right, so like
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Surgeon General versus
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Cliff Clavin for those of you in the genre of cheers Right, right.
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We want to know not someone who's just talking out the side of the mouth and they're not an expert,
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we want to know a bunch of different things.
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We have a seven -step approach on how to figure, is the information that you're getting reliable,
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and can you trust it and use it to make health decisions?
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Okay.
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And we're not slamming anyone.
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No!
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We're not going to pick out any health person.
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We're not saying this person's wrong, that person's wrong.
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Don't care.
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So if you are a health influencer and you think, oh, they're talking about me, we're not.
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We're not talking about anyone specific.
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We're just talking about in general.
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Even use these guidelines when you're watching a talk about Doc's video. For sure.
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Number one.
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Check the source, okay?
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Okay.
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The source of the information that you are looking at.
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Is it a healthcare professional or, and if you don't trust healthcare professionals, then fine.
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Is it like a scientist in the area?
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Is it someone who, is it coming from a university or is it coming from the government?
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Make sure the source aligns sort of with what you believe to be true or not true or right or not right.
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100%.
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Yeah, that's good.
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Number one.
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Number two, verify the credentials of the source or the person who is telling you this.
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So you may not just even trust that they are who they say they are because that happens all the time.
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So you want to make sure that whatever job they're saying they do, they do it.
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And that that job is related to some of the statements that they're making.
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All right.
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That's a good one.
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Okay.
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The next one is cross -reference.
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Okay.
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You don't want to just get sort of a one -off cross -reference the information you get.
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Check it against things that are sort of thought to be gold standards, like PubMed if you do a PubMed search,
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then you can get into some peer -reviewed literature there to see if that stuff is true.
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I've been burned before.
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I used some AI programs to try and—I was putting a talk together, I needed some references, and it completely invented references.
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Right.
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Just because AI said it doesn't make it true.
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Right.
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I had to cross -reference them on PubMed.
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I'm like, wait, that article doesn't even exist.
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Yes.
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Okay?
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So you really want to be careful and cross -reference
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and make sure what you're—the information you're getting is validated in some other valid source.
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Okay, number four is looking for citations.
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So if a claim is made,
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citing a specific study that is not something that's been shown in a whole bunch of studies and accepted as common knowledge,
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you maybe want to make sure that they're asked for providing a reference.
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So sometimes we'll do this depending on the specificity of it, but we don't do it for every single health fact that we say.
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Maybe we should.
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We do journal clubs and things where we look over articles
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and bring articles that we've read that we think you might be interested in.
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But yeah, that's what you want to do.
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You want to set those citations.
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Sure.
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Now, the next one is look out for red flags.
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I think this maybe should have been number one, to be honest with you.
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Yeah, yeah.
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A red flag would be something like the website
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or the YouTube video or something that's coming from a company that's trying to sell you something. For sure.
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So if it's trying to sell you something and it's giving you medical information to support its sale, you have to be careful.
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Yeah.
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Because there's different intention there. For sure.
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Is it to educate me or is it to sell me something?
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Or really extreme views or fear mongering or that kind of stuff.
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I mean, obviously there are some things in health that we need to be respective of or fearful of,
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but yeah You got to be a little bit careful with the language
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that they use and just gain us all so and and you can use a rule of thumb
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Is this an advertisement or is this education?
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Agreed.
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You have to be careful with that.
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Okay, number six is is this kind of something that's common amongst all people?
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So is there a pure consensus
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or is this view like a strong outlier where like the whole body of science for our whole lives?
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I said one thing and also one percent guess what that's not true.
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The world actually is flat Yeah. Is it?
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No. Okay.
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So, and then the last thing I would say is watch out for anecdotal stuff, okay?
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This is even common in medicine.
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And even the way sometimes we practice, we are all influenced by our own experience.
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Right.
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So, like an example in the anecdotal view, like, I took ginseng and my cancer was cured.
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Bing.
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You know, like, that's an extreme anecdotal sort of thing that has absolutely no science behind it.
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So if someone is saying something that's totally anecdotal, that information may not be translatable to you.
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Yeah, and the phrase like, your anecdote is not evidence, it's a little bit of an inflammatory statement,
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but a lot of times that's like a clapback to people that say, oh yeah, my cousin did this, sorry, your anecdote is not evidence.
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And that's a true statement, your anecdote is not evidence.
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Yeah, and a lot of people leave comments about stuff like that, and we love those comments, keep doing that.
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But we just recognize that, okay, this happened to this person.
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That's interesting.
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But if you start seeing like 100 ,000 people, then you're like, oh, okay, something's here.
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Or maybe not 100 ,000.
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But in any case, just watch out for anecdotal evidence.
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Now you know, because there's a lot of stuff out there.
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I think nowadays it's hard to get your family doctor.
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So people are turning to the internet or social media to find health information.
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So it's a necessary part of the world that we live in right now.
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So yeah, just proceed with caution, be sensible.
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And if it's too good to be true, if it doesn't quite make sense, it probably isn't true.
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Just like, you know what I mean?
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The miracle cure.
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Watch out for the miracle cures.
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Yeah, miracle cures.
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You have miracle.
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And I mean, I saw something where
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Mark Zuckerberg was saying they're not going to do fact checking anymore.
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Yes.
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I didn't even know they were doing fact checking, to be honest.
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But it sounds like it's going to be a bit more of a free -for -all out there in days to come, in days ahead.
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Wild West.
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Yeah.
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So just be careful with this information you're getting.
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Even us.
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People challenge us.
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We love it.
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It's great you leave comments and you challenge us.
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We're always right, though.
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No, I'm just kidding.
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And that's actually one thing that YouTube has done.
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And it's actually said, for channels you actually have to apply, improve your credentials, say, hey, this is from a registered, licensed medical professional.
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So actually they have that.
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They've done some of that for us, saying, listen, this person is not someone who's saying this.
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They actually have trained in this.
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There is some of that.
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And some of the stuff we say may be wrong.
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The half -life of medical knowledge is five years.
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It's probably changing for sure.
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Right?
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And we've made videos for over five years.
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So that means the videos we made five years ago, half of it's wrong.
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You can see that right away.
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In our earlier videos, like, yeah, you're going to have your hip replacement, you're to be in the hospital for three to five days.
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Yeah, and now it's the same day.
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It's like they need to go home the same day.
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So stuff we said back then is now wrong.
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That's just the way it is.
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So there are some guidelines you can use if you're looking to get some health information online.
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Hopefully you do get good information.
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Hopefully your searches do help you,
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but always, always, always to check with your healthcare provider if you're thinking of a radical change in your lifestyle and health. For sure.
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If you like this video, please like it.
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Subscribe to our channel, share it with a friend.
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And remember, you are in charge of your own health.
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I'll see you next time.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “7 Tips to Make Sure Medical Information Online Is Valid”. This video has 169 sentences and 1616 words to shadow. The speech runs for 6:57. The speaker talks fast, about 232 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 90% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| cure verb | /kjɔː/ | To restore to health. |
| miracle noun | /ˈmɪɹ.ə.kəl/ | An event that appears inexplicable by the laws of nature and so is held to be supernatural in origin. |
| citation noun | /ˌsaɪˈteɪʃən/ | An official summons or notice given to a person to appear. |
| replacement noun | /ɹɪˈpleɪsmənt/ | A person or thing that takes the place of another; a substitute. |
| cousin noun | /ˈkʌz(ə)n/ | Chiefly with a qualifying word: Any relation (especially a distant one) who is not a direct ancestor or descendant but part of a person's extended family; a… |
| valid adjective | /ˈvælɪd/ | Well-grounded or justifiable, pertinent. |
| intention noun | /ɪnˈtɛnʃn̩/ | A course of action that a person intends to follow. |
| radical noun | /ˈɹædɪkəl/ | A root (of a number or quantity). |
| versus | /ˈvɝsəs/ | Against; in opposition to. |
| amongst | /əˈmʌŋst/ | Denotes a mingling or intermixing with distinct or separable objects. See usage note at amidst. |
| phrase noun | /ˈfɹeɪ̯z/ | A short written or spoken expression. |
| lifestyle noun | /ˈlaɪfˌstaɪl/ | A style of living that reflects the attitudes and values of a person or group. |
| reliable adjective | /ɹɪˈlaɪəbl̩/ | Suitable or fit to be relied on; worthy of dependence, reliance or trust; dependable, trustworthy |
| outfit noun | /ˈaʊtfɪt/ | A set of clothing (with accessories). |
| scientist noun | /ˈsaɪəntəst/ | One whose activities make use of the scientific method to answer questions regarding the measurable universe. A scientist may be involved in original research… |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| look over verb | To check quickly; to make a brief or cursory visual inspection of. |
| pick out verb | To remove by picking. |
| talk out verb | To resolve (a problem) by talking about it. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- We're not going to pick out any health person.
- We're not saying this person's wrong, that person's wrong.
- We're not talking about anyone specific.
- We're just talking about in general.
- Just like, you know what I mean?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've been burned · that's been shown · we've read |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | I've been burned · is validated · is made |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 47 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, we're, they're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: citation /ˌsaɪˈteɪʃən/, intention /ɪnˈtɛnʃn̩/, genre /ˈ(d)ʒɑnɹə/, caution /ˈkɔːʃ(ə)n/, credential /kɹɪˈdɛnʃəl/
- Long words — get the stress right: advertisement /ˈædvɚˌtaɪzmənt/, inflammatory /ɪnˈflæmət(ə)ɹi/, influencer /ˈɪnflu.ənsə(ɹ)/, specificity /spɛsɪˈfɪsɪti/, translatable /tɹænzˈleɪtəbəl/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like cure, miracle, citation.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.