In this 2006 volume, a team of leading contributors from the fields of linguistics, sociology and medicine examine how doctors and patients communicate in primary care consultations. Clear, informative and comprehensive, it will be essential reading for students and researchers in sociolinguistics, communication studies, sociology, and medicine. 1. Introduction: analyzing interaction between doctors and patients in primary care encounters John Heritage and Douglas W. Maynard 2. Soliciting patients' presenting concerns Jeffrey Robinson 3. Accounting for the visit: giving reasons for seeking medical care John Heritage and Jeffrey Robinson 4. Realizing the illness: patients' narratives of symptom discovery Tim Halkowski 5. Explaining illness: patients' proposals and physicians' responses Virginia Gill and Douglas W. Maynard 6. Taking the history: questioning during comprehensive history taking Elizabeth Boyd and John Heritage 7. Body work: the collaborative production of the clinical object Christian Heath 8. Communicating and responding to diagnosis Anssi Per&#228 kyl&#228 9. On diagnostic rationality: bad news, good news, and the symptom residue Douglas W. Maynard and Richard M. Frankel 10. Treatment decisions: negotiations between doctors and patients in acute care encounters Tanya Stivers 11. Prescriptions and prescribing: co-ordinating talk and text-based activities David Greatbach 12. Lifestyle discussions in medical interviews Marja-Leena Sorjonen, Liisa Raevaara, Markku Haakana, Tuukka Tammi and Anssi Per&#228 kyl&#228 13. Co-ordinating closings in medical interviews: producing continuity of care Candace West 14. Mis-alignments in 'after-hours' calls to a British GP's practice: a study in telephone medicine Paul Drew.