Lesson 18 using medical slang(1), English, MEDICAL ENGLISH
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Lesson 18
Read the following article and answer the questions below.
Part A
According to the text:
1. Why do doctors use slang?
2. Why are doctors being asked to stop using such terms in medical records and on wards?
Hospital Slang
Doctors in the UK have finally revealed the secret language they use to tell each other what they think of difficult patients and to laugh at them behind their backs.
The acronyms - which range from the bizarre to the downright offensive - include Grolies (Guardian readers of limited intelligence in ethnic skirts), patients who have had too much to drink - Pafo (Pissed and fell over) and advice for chronic hypochondriacs - Ttfo (Tell Them to F*** Off). Other choice examples include Sig (Stroppy ignorant girl), Oap (Over-anxious patient), Tatt (Talks all the time) and Teeth (Tried everything else, try homeopathy).
It seems that these terms are not only being used in the heat of the moment by stressed doctors on busy wards but are also being recorded for in patients' medical records.
Concern at the use of medical slang has led to warnings from medical unions that doctors could be sued or embarrassed in court if the slang is discovered on patients' notes.
Some examples are:
- FLK - Funny Looking Kid
- JLD - Just Like Dad. Used when the father of a FLK appears on the postnatal ward
- Wrinkly: geriatric
- TMB: too many birthdays
- Wall: a doctor who resists admitting patients at all cost
- Sieve: a doctor who admits almost every patient he sees
Often this language was used as a "coping mechanism" by doctors who come face to face with death and suffering every day.
A leading doctor said: "The use of medical slang helps to depersonalise the distress encountered in doctors' everyday working lives.
"It is a way of detaching and distancing oneself from patients' distress through loss, grief, disease, dying and death.
However, the use of medical slang in patients' notes could mean trouble for doctors. Apart from the offence the slang causes to patients, doctors are required by law to keep accurate and clear medical records. The diagnosis GOK (God only knows) could be confused with GOR, gastro-oesophageal reflux, the most common cause of heartburn.
Now doctors are being much more careful; they are frightened because patients can now ask to see their notes and could get upset. It is becoming very much a verbal rather than written form of communication".
Last night, the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland (MDDUS), which provides legal advice and indemnity to doctors, warned against the use of medical slang.
The chief executive of the MDDUS, said: "Fortunately, these terms are disappearing - not only because of our efforts but also because patients’ records are no longer hidden away".
Glossary:
bug - zarazek; robak
laugh at somebody behind their backs - naśmiewać się za plecami
downright offensive - najzwyczajniej obraźliwy
limited intelligence - ograniczona inteligencja
stroppy - kłótliwy
the heat of the moment - pod wpływem chwili
busy wards - pełne ruchu oddziały
sue - pozwać do sądu
sieve - sito
wrinkly - pomarszczony
coping mechanism - mechanism radzenia sobie
depersonalise - uczynić bezosobowym
detaching - oddzielając
distancing - dystansując się
indemnity - ubezpieczenie
Part B
What terms do doctors use to describe the following patients?
1. A female patient who is bad tempered and not very bright
2. An old person
3. Someone who does not have a medical problem, but wants attention
4. A hospital doctor who tries to avoid having a patient
5. A new born baby who looks a little odd
6. A hospital doctor who always puts a patient in the hospital
7. a patient of whom the doctor has no idea of the diagnosis
8. A chatty patient
Part C
Detailed understanding. Read the text and choose the correct answer A, B or C.
1. Why are medical unions warning doctors not to use medical slang?
A. Because patients may be offended.
B. Because they may be taken to court if slang is discovered in patients read it.
C. Because patients records are not hidden away.
2. According to the article, why do doctors use slang?
A. Because it is quicker than writing in full.
B. Because it is funny.
C. Because it helps them deal with the grief and death they see.
3. Why is the use of slang becoming a problem?
A. Because doctors use it more.
B. Because it has become written not just verbal.
C. Because patients now have access to their files.
4. Why else could slang be a problem?
A. Because it may cause confusion.
B. Because it is offensive to patients.
C. Because it has different meanings in different hospitals.
5. Which reason is not given for a decrease in slang?
A. Doctors realize it could be offensive.
B. Patients? records are no longer secret and hidden.
C. Medical bodies drawing doctors’ attention to the possible dangers.
Key
Part A
1. To help them deal with the death and suffering they have to deal with.
2. Because they are offensive to patients and doctors could have to explain themselves in court.
Part B
1. stroppy ignorant female
2. wrinkly
3. told to F*** off
4. wall
5. funny looking kid
6. sieve
7. god only knows
8. talks all the time
Part C
1. B
2. C
3. C
4. A
5. A
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