INTERESTING TIMES

The other day while challenging us with a case in which the patient needed extensive advanced medical care the prof asked "OK, what next?". I responded with "Does the patient have medical insurance?" And the professor joked that first on the TO DO list is a "wallet biopsy". We laughed. It is necessary to assess people's ability to pay for treatments, but too painful to use such terms with a patient. But at that point I decided that I need to begin collecting medical slang, not jargon but the most offensive and borderline slang that I hear. I have always been interested in language.

So tonight I was working on my homework assignment for clinic synthesis, and trying to find the abbreviations for a few things, when I ran across the wikipedia page listing medical slang. I have pilfered the entire contents of the wiki page, and started adding to it. I think this may be the beginning of something especially perverse. I LOL'd when I saw the definition of the acronym TEETH.

( medical slang list here, not all offensive, moved forward from 2/20/09 )

A&W = alive and well
AAA = abdominal aortic aneurysm
AB = antibody
( Find here a few more random linguistic observations from year 2 ND school. Medicalese is a thick jargon with many interconnected specialties. While this collection has been interesting it is a time sink and I will probably not add to it. The acronyms used depend on the person and specialty, and when combined without regard for specialties are nearly meaningless. But it was interesting to see just these few jumbled up and to see some overlap.  )

bafflegab = jargon = "a peculiar kind of language that is unique to public servants who are trying very hard to justify their existence" used in the title of a recent Canadian government report entitled Emergency Preparedness in Canada: How the Fine Arts of Procrastination and Bafflegab Hobble the People Who Will Be Trying to Save You When Things Get Really Bad. According to one of the study authors, Sen. Colin Kenny, the agnecies' jargon serves merely to mask the fact that nothing has to be done.

SOURCE: The Week 9/12/08

ACFAN = Arizona Child & Family Advocacy Network
CASA = Center Against Sexual Assault -- usually a couple of letters are tacked on the front (NACASA in Northern Arizona)
NACA = Native Americans for Community Action
GHB = a date rape drug -- gamma hydroxybutyric acid, made using floor stripper
DD = developmentally disabled. 25% of DD females are raped. Easy targets.
MDT = multi-disciplinary team
DPS = Department of Public Safety (highway patrol)
SANE = Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (4-6 hour long exams!)
SAFE = Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner (doc)
CPS = Child Protective Services
OP = Order of Protection
VOCA = vitims of Crime Association
VC = Victim Compensation
ED = Emergency Department
DR number = Police Report Number
VAV = Victim Advocate Volunteer (this is me)
ME = Medical Examiner
MADD = Mothers Against Drunk Drivers
PTSD = post traumatic stress disorder
COR = Conditions of Release, decided at time of Initial Appearance in court, within 24 hours of arrest
LE = law enforcement
DV = domestic violence (this one rolls from tongues without any awareness its's an acronym--like TV)
FPD = Flagstaff Police Department
CCSO = Coconino County Sheriff's Department
WPD = Williams Police Department