Many professions use jargon, a collection of specialized or technical language unique to the field that may not be understood by people outside of that field. The use of slang, or informal words and expressions, as well as abbreviations is also common. Medicine is certainly no exception. International medical graduates (IMGs) who enter U.S. residency or fellowship positions will find that there are many terms that are particular to U.S. medicine. Many of these terms, which we call “Medicalese,” may be new and initially confusing to IMGs, even those who come from countries where the language of instruction is English and who speak and comprehend English quite well. U.S. “Medicalese” differs even from “Medicalese” in other English-speaking countries, such as the United Kingdom.
ECFMG’s Acculturation Program has developed this glossary of “Medicalese“ to help orient newly arriving IMGs to some of the terminology commonly used by doctors, nurses, and other medical staff in U.S. hospitals and clinics. It is our hope that this glossary will facilitate understanding of these terms when they are used by others.
Note that the table below includes several abbreviations or acronyms. These are included because they are often spoken as such. However, it may be better, especially for those new to “Medicalese,” to say the complete term in order to avoid any confusion.
It is important to understand that some of the slang, abbreviations, and jargon commonly used within medical practice might sound insensitive to patients or their families. These terms, therefore, should not be used in situations where they may be overheard. Unfortunately, some misguided medical staff may also use terms that are disrespectful or belittling to patients. Such inappropriate terms have no place whatsoever in the professional practice of medicine and are not included on this list.
As with all resources on the ECFMG Acculturation website, the “Medicalese,” glossary is a work in progress. If you have suggestions for additional words, phrases, or abbreviations to be added to this list, please submit them for consideration to acculturation@ecfmg.org.
| Term |
Definition |
Use |
ABG |
arterial blood gas |
Get an ABG on that asthmatic patient. |
| AMA |
against medical advice; a way of leaving the hospital |
The patient wants to leave AMA. |
| bag |
to breathe for the patient artificially using a hand-operated device called an ambu-bag |
This patient is very hard to bag. |
| banana bag |
intravenous infusion bag containing multivitamins (appears yellow) |
Hang a banana bag on her. |
| bili |
bilirubin |
Has his bili come down from yesterday? |
| bladder scan |
a bedside ultrasound to measure the amount of residual urine |
Let’s get a bladder scan and see if his prostatic enlargement is the problem. |
| blow |
to destroy a vein while trying to insert an IV |
That medical student has already blown every vein in both of that elderly patient’s arms. |
| BMP |
basic metabolic panel (electrolytes and renal function) |
Everyone on his service gets a BMP on admission. |
| boarders |
patients from other services occupying beds on the team’s ward or floor; usually unwelcome |
I have two boarders on my service. |
| boo-boo / owee |
what children may call an injury |
Can you show me your boo-boo [or owee]? |
| bounce / bounce back |
patient returns to service from which he or she had recently been discharged or transferred |
He was discharged yesterday, but he bounced back today. |
| BP |
blood pressure |
The BP is too high! |
| brady / brady down |
slowing heart rate |
Whoops, he is starting to brady down. |
| bronch (pronounced bronk) |
perform a bronchoscopy |
Pulmonary is going to bronch her tomorrow morning. |
| bugs |
germs; infecting organisms (bacteria, viruses, etc.) |
Her decreased immunity sets her up for all kinds of bugs. |
| bump |
to increase the dose of a drug |
He is still having too many seizures; let’s bump the Dilantin. |
| CABG (pronounced cabbage) |
coronary artery bypass graft |
He had a CABG three years ago. |
| CAD |
coronary artery disease |
He was admitted for workup of his CAD. |
| call |
1) night or weekend duty at the hospital; also, "call night," "call schedule," etc.
2) short for judgment call; decision in which there is no clearly right answer |
1) I’m on call this weekend.
2) It’s a tough call whether or not to add another antibiotic. |
| call a code |
to initiate or announce the start of a patient resuscitation effort |
I just lost her pulse; call a code! |
| cath |
catheterization |
What did the cath show about his coronaries? |
| CBC |
complete blood count |
Get a CBC on him tomorrow morning. |
| Cdiff |
Clostridium difficile |
She grew out Cdiff in her cultures. |
| Chem-7 |
same as basic metabolic panel (electrolytes and renal function) |
Everyone on his service gets a Chem-7 on admission. |
| CHF |
congestive heart failure |
His CHF is so bad he can’t lie down flat. |
| code |
to use full emergency measures to resuscitate a patient who has suffered a heart or breathing stoppage; also, a noun referring to the process |
How long has this code been going? |
| consent [a patient] |
go through the consent process with a patient in order to obtain his/her signed consent |
Make sure you consent Mr. Green for his procedure tomorrow. |
| CPS |
Child Protective Services |
These bruises look suspicious; we need to get CPS involved. |
| crash |
sudden, rapid, and often unanticipated deterioration of a patient |
He looked fine. I never expected him to crash like that. |
| crash cart |
a cart on wheels that contains all drugs, equipment, and devices for managing cardiac arrest and other emergencies that is brought to the patient’s bedside |
I can’t get a pulse! Call for the crash cart! |
| crit |
hematocrit |
Get a crit every hour until it stabilizes. |
| C-section |
cesarean section |
Because of the fetal distress, we went with a C-section. |
| C-spine / T-spine / L-spine |
cervical, thoracic, or lumbar spine |
Patients with that kind of injury are at risk for C-spine injuries. |
| D&C |
dilatation and curettage |
If the vaginal bleeding continues, we may consider a D&C. |
| D/C |
1) discontinue
2) discharge
(Note: It is critical to distinguish between these two meanings.) |
D/C the heparin before he gets D/Ced to the nursing home. |
| de-sating |
decreasing oxygen saturation |
Let’s get some oxygen on her; she’s de-sating! |
| dispo |
disposition |
We need to get started on arranging his dispo. |
| DNR |
do not resuscitate; a designation unofficially or in some cases officially given to patients who are not to receive heroic measures (not to be coded) in the event of cardiac or respiratory arrest |
Does this patient have a DNR order?
Is this patient DNR? |
| DOA |
dead on arrival |
Two of the patients from the accident were DOA. |
| doc |
common term of address or referral for physicians by patients and medical staff |
We need to get in touch with her doc. |
| DOE |
dyspnea on exertion |
He had no orthopnea or DOE. |
| DVT |
deep venous thrombosis |
You have to consider DVT in all post-op patients. |
| ED / ER |
Emergency Department or Emergency Room |
We have two admissions waiting down in the ER [or ED]. |
| EKG / ECG |
electrocardiogram |
Her EKG [or ECG] did not show any acute changes. |
| EMS |
Emergency Medical Services (the ambulance and rescue system); see Fire Rescue |
EMS is on the scene of a three-car accident. |
| EMT |
Emergency Medical Technician |
The EMT said he stopped breathing about two minutes before the ambulance arrived. |
| EOM |
extraocular movement |
He showed some paralysis of his EOMs on upward gaze. |
| eyeball |
to examine visually |
Let’s remove that dressing; I want to eyeball the wound. |
| Fire Rescue |
medical emergency response service; see EMS |
Fire Rescue is bringing in a seizing kid. |
| frequent flyer |
A patient who has frequent admissions to the hospital or to the Emergency Department |
Review his old records before you order a lot of workup because he is a frequent flyer. |
| GI cocktail |
a combination of medications to treat gastric distress, variable by institution |
Let’s try a GI cocktail and see how she responds. |
| GSW |
gunshot wound |
He sustained a GSW of the left chest. |
| H&H |
hemoglobin and hematocrit |
What was his last H&H? |
| high |
under the influence of narcotics or other mood/mind altering drugs |
When he presented to the ED he was obviously high. |
| I&D |
incision and drainage |
The only way to deal with an abscess is to I&D it. |
| I&O |
measurement of fluid intake and output |
All renal patients need strict I&Os. |
| keep an eye on |
watchful waiting, continued observation |
Let’s hold off on the blood and keep an eye on him for now. |
| line |
intravenous access |
You are going to need a big line to give that drug. |
| LOC |
loss of consciousness |
When he fell, was there any LOC? |
| LP |
lumbar puncture (spinal tap) |
Was there blood in the LP? |
| lytes |
electrolytes |
His lytes suggest dehydration. |
| MI |
myocardial infarction |
This EKG clearly shows an old MI. |
| migraine cocktail |
a combination of medications to treat migraine headaches, variable by institution |
Let’s try a migraine cocktail and see how she responds. |
| MVA |
motor vehicle accident |
He was the passenger in an MVA. |
| neb |
medicated nebulizer treatment |
That asthmatic kid needs another neb. |
| orthopods, pods |
orthopedists |
After we stabilize him, we need to get the pods to see him. |
| out |
unresponsive |
He was out for about 15 minutes after his head injury. |
| pace |
regulate or provide a heart rhythm by applying an artificial pacemaker |
Her rate is dropping way too low; we need to pace her. |
| PCP / PMD |
primary care provider or primary physician |
We need to get some more information from his PCP [or PMD]. |
| PE |
pulmonary embolism |
With sudden chest pain and shortness of breath you always worry about a PE. |
| PEG / PEG tube |
percutaneous gastrostomy used for enteral feeding |
She is going to need a PEG [or PEG tube] to get her some sustenance. |
| PND |
paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea |
PND is one of the hallmarks of CHF. |
| preemie |
a prematurely born baby |
That preemie is going to need to go to the PICU right away. |
| prepped |
prepared for a procedure |
Get her prepped for an LP. |
| pulse ox |
pulse oximetry |
He doesn’t look so good, let’s get him on a pulse ox. |
| round |
briefly evaluate each patient on a service by physically visiting the patient at the bedside, reviewing his or her progress, and planning further management |
We round at 7 a.m. every day. |
| run the list |
review updated diagnostic results, clinical course, and treatment plans for all patients on a service, on a patient-by-patient basis |
Let’s run the list right after lunch. |
| sharps |
Needles, scalpels, IV catheters - anything that could be contaminated and needs to be placed in a sharps container before disposal |
Okay, let’s get all the sharps off the field. |
| shock |
defibrillate or cardiovert a patient by applying paddles to the patient’s chest to deliver a charge |
No pulse. Shock him again! |
| SOB |
shortness of breath |
She had obvious SOB at rest. |
| soft admission |
patient for whom the need for admission is questionable |
That chest pain was really a soft admission. |
| STAT |
immediately, as opposed to routine |
I need an EKG STAT! |
| STD / STI |
sexually transmitted disease / sexually transmitted infection |
Did she have any prior history of STDs [or STIs]? |
| sundowning |
tendency of altered or demented patients to become agitated as night falls |
He may need a little sedation if he starts sundowning. |
| through and through |
a gunshot wound that has both an entrance and an exit wound |
There was a through and through of the left thigh. |
| TM |
tympanic membrane |
This little guy has got an angry looking TM, no wonder his ear hurts! |
| tox screen |
blood test to determine what drugs are in a patient’s system |
If he doesn’t wake up soon, we should get a tox screen on him. |
| trach (pronounced trake) |
perform a tracheostomy |
Call ENT to trach this guy. |
| tracks |
needle marks usually from IV drug abuse |
With all those tracks, it is going to be tough to get a line in. |
| triage |
the system of prioritizing patients in an emergency situation in which there are a great number of injured or ill |
We need to triage these MVA victims. |
| triple-A |
abdominal aortic aneurysm |
That mass in the abdomen could be a triple-A. |
| tube |
intubate |
He is tiring out; we are going to need to tube him. |
| turf |
transfer the patient to another service |
That patient was turfed to us from Surgery. |
| vent |
a mechanical ventilator |
She is tiring out. We will need to get her on a vent right away. |
| zonked, zonked out |
heavily sedated, asleep |
I think he’s had enough; he’s zonked. |
