Acceptable jargon in secondary?

[Slide]

I'm finishing up the Columbia secondary, and it asks me to talk about my work experiences. One of my jobs involve some lengthy terms, but I'm not sure whether doctors may be familiar with them. Is it ok to use terms like PK/PD and LD50, or is that too technical? I figure that since the people reading them are doctors, they may be familiar with some of the terms. I really don't wanna type out pharmacokinetics and pharmacodyamics over and over again, considering there is a character limit.

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[Hardbody]

I'm finishing up the Columbia secondary, and it asks me to talk about my work experiences. One of my jobs involve some lengthy terms, but I'm not sure whether doctors may be familiar with them. Is it ok to use terms like PK/PD and LD50, or is that too technical? I figure that since the people reading them are doctors, they may be familiar with some of the terms. I really don't wanna type out pharmacokinetics and pharmacodyamics over again.

I think it is reasonable to make the assumption that some of the ADCOM will not know what the hell you are talking about, and some will. That being said, I don't think that the ADCOM's that do know what that jargon is will be offended that you are typing it all out (which is the only reason to consider NOT typing it all out). I say type it all out, just my opinion though and I am NOT ADCOM.

 

[legobikes]

I think it is reasonable to make the assumption that some of the ADCOM will not know what the hell you are talking about, and some will. That being said, I don't think that the ADCOM's that do know what that jargon is will be offended that you are typing it all out (which is the only reason to consider NOT typing it all out). I say type it all out, just my opinion though and I am NOT ADCOM.

I'm wagering that most adcoms will know what ld50 is.

 

[Schaden Freud]

I'm finishing up the Columbia secondary, and it asks me to talk about my work experiences. One of my jobs involve some lengthy terms, but I'm not sure whether doctors may be familiar with them. Is it ok to use terms like PK/PD and LD50, or is that too technical? I figure that since the people reading them are doctors, they may be familiar with some of the terms. I really don't wanna type out pharmacokinetics and pharmacodyamics over and over again, considering there is a character limit.

Spell out the whole word the first time you use it, and abbreviate subsequently. Unless it's something undoubtedly universally understood- like DNA.

 

[Hardbody]

Spell out the whole word the first time you use it, and abbreviate subsequently. Unless it's something undoubtedly universally understood- like DNA.

What he said.

 

[AngryBaby]

Spell out the whole word the first time you use it, and abbreviate subsequently. Unless it's something undoubtedly universally understood- like DNA.

I like to type out the word and then put the abbreviation in parenthesis right after the word is first used in my essay, e.g. "...pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) was a complete waste of time for me..."

I do agree that LD50 will be understood.

 

[LizzyM]

Spell out the whole word the first time you use it, and abbreviate subsequently. Unless it's something undoubtedly universally understood- like DNA.

Agree with advice above. The adcom members I have known have included an anatomy professor, histology professor, a medical anthropologist and a specialist in the medical humanities. Possible that these types are not familiar with PK PD and ld50.

 

[vtucci]

PhDs often form half of the ADCOM. As one member has mentioned, that may include DrPH, PhD in Humanities and are not clinicians. I would be wary of using any abbreviations not universally understood.

When you first wrote PD- I was thinking physical diagnosis?

For ID50- I assume you mean- infectious dose in 50% of subjects. Someone might read quickly over that and think that you mean D50 solution (used in the emergency departments to treat hypoglycemia and given via IV).

 

[DoctorAck]

I def like the approach of spelling it out in full the first time, then subsequently abbreviating.

 

[silas2642]

I'm finishing up the Columbia secondary, and it asks me to talk about my work experiences. One of my jobs involve some lengthy terms, but I'm not sure whether doctors may be familiar with them. Is it ok to use terms like PK/PD and LD50, or is that too technical? I figure that since the people reading them are doctors, they may be familiar with some of the terms. I really don't wanna type out pharmacokinetics and pharmacodyamics over and over again, considering there is a character limit.

This is just my humble opinion, and it's probably wrong, but I wouldn't go too much into detail about your research/labwork because it's really really boring. There is no way they're going to read it in detail anyway, so give the highlights, and then move on to the important stuff: how this affected your desire to become a doctor, what you learned from it, and how this helped you grow as a person.

Does anyone really read those secondaries? Probably a few, but if you started to get all technical with me I'd be doing this and then move on to the next applicant.

 

[Slide]

This is just my humble opinion, and it's probably wrong, but I wouldn't go too much into detail about your research/labwork because it's really really boring. There is no way they're going to read it in detail anyway, so give the highlights, and then move on to the important stuff: how this affected your desire to become a doctor, what you learned from it, and how this helped you grow as a person.

Does anyone really read those secondaries? Probably a few, but if you started to get all technical with me I'd be doing this and then move on to the next applicant.

This is actually a good point...considering there is such little space to talk about my work, should I even go into some sort of detail, or save it for the interview (pending I get one)?

For ID50- I assume you mean- infectious dose in 50% of subjects. Someone might read quickly over that and think that you mean D50 solution (used in the emergency departments to treat hypoglycemia and given via IV).

It's actually LD50 (lowercase makes it seem like ID50), which means lethal dose administered to a test population (lab rats) that will kill off half the population.

 

[notdeadyet]

I def like the approach of spelling it out in full the first time, then subsequently abbreviating.

Thirded. This is the approach taken in most writings when the level of the audience is unknown.