Medical Slang

[JMalley]

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Jargon: What are some of the slang terms you use as Medical Students and Clerks etc? Not the slang that patients use… but the acronyms and slang terms that you use in gross lab, rounds etc?

 

[indebt]

Allstate-itis Those people coming in complaining of neck and back pain secondary to MVA (motor vehicle accident) just to get insurance $.

EDP - emotionally disturbed person

Frequent Flyer- you can figure this one out

Banana bag- good stuff to give to the drunks

Many more

 

[velo]

This isn't technically "slang" i guess, but I have noticed that a lot of the older docs just can't bring themselves to say the word "centimeter"....what the hell is a sontimeter anyway?

 

[Smurfette]

There are WAY too many acronyms and slang terms to list. Many are written in charts and such, but not spoken per se. Here's some that I hear spoken a lot:

FLK-funny looking kid...child looks as though they may have a genetic disorder
(not meant in a cruel way, just that the kid looks syndromic)

AKA or BKA---above or below the knee amputee

"typical" patient--patient is obese with diabetes and hypertension, usually not well-controlled

A&O--pt is awake and oriented

Is & Os--pt's inputs and outputs

I&D--incision and drainage

NAD---pt in No Acute Distress

SOB--shortness of breath

CTAB--Clear to auscultation bilaterally (i.e. lungs sounds are normal)

There's more, but it's become second nature to me now, so it's hard to think of them. FA for the Wards lists many of the written acronyms if you are particularly interested in finding them out. Don't worry, you will pick up on it fast, and everyone knows it takes a while to pick up on all the subtleties. Even attendings can't always keep up with all the acronyms you see in charts---occasionally your whole team will be reading a consult note trying to figure out what the heck something stands for!

 

[SJBX]

I think this is a doctor thing, I'm in Philly and several docs use "SON-TA-METER" all the time. First week of anatomy I had no clue what they were talking about. A friend a few years older who goes to school in NY said he hears it all the time.

Does anyone know why it is used this way. We actually asked a doc, but he just laughed and never really gave us an answer.

Ha ha. I think Sont-a-meter is a southern thing. Everything is measured in Sontimeters down here 😱

 

[medic170]

Sometimes workman's comp patients present with MU (made up) pain.

Along the same lines, on the ambulance we see a lot of PNR (person needs a ride) patients. They have a cold or something and do not want to pay for a cab, so they let Medicaid pay for an ambulance.

 

[roja]

because the ED is a tight area, we tend to use a number of abbreviations/slang to try and reduce the chance of people overhearing sensitive info...

ie:

PWA- person with aids
High-fiver- HIV
FF- frequent flier
Staple- a ff....


lots of abbreviations....

'crit- hematocrit


it goes on and on

 

[beanbean]

FOS - full of **** (I had heard this said but this week saw it written on an abd x-ray report)

SOCMOB - standing on the corner, minding one's business

BIBA - brought in by ambulance

There was a link posted on SDN quite a bit ago that listed some really funny ones. If I can find the link I will post it.

 

[kutastha]

LOL - little old lady

H 'n' H - Hgb and Hct

Teggy - Tegaderm

HOH - hard of hearing - A couple weeks ago, I overheard a surgical resident and her two med students reading an H+P on a patient they were consulting. They kept remarking that he was partially deaf, but were stumped on what the HOH meant in his HPI. One of the med students then started looking up "HOH" on Up to Date. I leaned over and asked, "Did you say the guy was hard-of-hearing?" She was pissed.

 

[velo]

SOCMOB - standing on the corner, minding one's business

the most dangerous activity one can engage in. It seems like 95% of the people who come into the ED because of assaults are the victims of "some dude" or occasionally "a couple of dudes" who prey on people "just minding [their] own business"

 

[Jambi]

From my EMS perspective...

DRT - Dead right there
TMB - Too many birthdays
FDGB - Fall down go boom
Miracle drug - Oxygen
Vitamin "N" - Naloxone/Narcan
Gomer/Gumer - Old person, incontinent to urine, feces, altered, ect
Whiskey Tango - White Trash
Delta Bravo - Dirtbag
CAD - Cold and dead
LHP - Larry H. Parker (Think, "Oh my neck, Oh my neck and my back!")


I'm sure I have more somewhere...

 

[medic170]

Let's not forget about the infamous "Code Brown"

 

[Paws]

the most dangerous activity one can engage in. It seems like 95% of the people who come into the ED because of assaults are the victims of "some dude" or occasionally "a couple of dudes" who prey on people "just minding [their] own business"

'Just minding their own business while 1) sitting on the porch or 2) on their way to church ...'

Guys, check out the threads in the Emergency Forum! "Things I learned from my patients" porbably being one of the most heavily posted threads in all of SDN - except those crazy ones in the lounge .... 😛

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=67019

 

[phoenixsupra]

the most dangerous activity one can engage in. It seems like 95% of the people who come into the ED because of assaults are the victims of "some dude" or occasionally "a couple of dudes" who prey on people "just minding [their] own business"

Yeah, except some times SOCMOB is a euphemism for hanging out in the hood all day selling crack 😉 😀

 

[Doc 2b]

Urban Outdoorsman - Homeless person
FUBAR - Fuc#ed up beyond all recognition/repair

And many more.....It's so hard thinking of these things off the top of your head.

 

[phoenixsupra]

because the ED is a tight area, we tend to use a number of abbreviations/slang to try and reduce the chance of people overhearing sensitive info...

PWA- person with aids
High-fiver- HIV
FF- frequent flier
Staple- a ff....

PWA seems like a good one, but isn't "high fiver" a bit obvious?? Sort of catches your attention and seems a tad too easy to work out, especially for a patient who has hiv??

Lot's of folks here use the old PPP, which is borderline bad taste IMHO. There's also a few of the old guard who still use SHPOS too. 😱

 

[Gimlet]

This link should just about cover anything you need:

http://www.shartwell.freeserve.co.uk/humor-site/medical-acronyms.htm

 

[werd]

med student = medical student 😱

 

[maiko82]

I think this is a doctor thing, I'm in Philly and several docs use "SON-TA-METER" all the time. First week of anatomy I had no clue what they were talking about. A friend a few years older who goes to school in NY said he hears it all the time.


Does anyone know why it is used this way. We actually asked a doc, but he just laughed and never really gave us an answer.

My doctorin' 101 moderator said it's just an affectation they put on. I can't imagine ever using it without bursting into a fit of giggles.

 

[beanbean]

Thanks for the link...that's the one I was thinking of.

Another vote for the 'Things I Learned From My Patients' thread...it is the funniest thread on SDN.

 

[Winged Scapula]

This isn't technically "slang" i guess, but I have noticed that a lot of the older docs just can't bring themselves to say the word "centimeter"....what the hell is a sontimeter anyway?

According to Webster's this is an accepted pronounciation. I always thought it originated from the French prefix "cent" (ie, as in centime) which is pron. "sahnt" and refers to 100th of a franc (or a euro now). This pronounciation is preferred in many Western countries over the more frequent "centimeter" which users here seem to prefer.

Reminds me of when I called the OR a couple of weeks ago to ask them to have a 4 mm, 7 "sontimeter" PTFE catheter available in the room. The ciruclator couldn't find a "sonna meter" in stock but she brought me a 4mm, 7 centimeter catheter "in case" I could use that!

 

[DOtobe]

I'm now on my EM rotation, and I have learned the word "squirrel" - the patient that is weird, and makes you think WTF are they here for

And "sontometer" is one of those things that annoys me to no end.

 

[greets fr. nyc]

GOMER = get-out-of-my-emergency-room! as in "Frigginn GOMER!"

to hit = stick someone; as in, "we hit him five times but still didn't get any blood."

Supratentorial =above the falx tentorium/cerebellum = psychosomatic, dreaming things; "It's all supratentorial with that guy, just a big fat whiner."

MIDI = MI during intercourse

Scut-monkey= (no explanation needed)

Jerry = geriatrics = as in the Jerry Floor

Juvie = juvenile = as in "we have a Juvie coming in with multiple gun-shot wounds." or "after d/c, he's going to Juvie Court."

 

[ekydrd]

VOHBD - victim of hit by deer. This is popular during deer hunting season, and all year long for those unlucky enough to collide with a deer in their car. We often keep a tally in our ED during fire arm season... but this past bow season we had a hunter attacked by a buck when he was walking back to his truck.

 

[azzarah]

Unlike some of the previous posts, these are not funny, but I find myself using these three terms all the time now and had never heard of them before Med school:
delta MS=change in mental status
Liver rounds= get togethers/mtgs w/ free alcohol
MSI, II, III, IV=1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th year med student
In charts there are a bunch of abbrev. for super-long sentences that I find kinda funny and nice to learn.

 

[Doc 2b]

Riding the lightening, as in Pt rode the lightening at 360 joules

 

[45408]

Patients with bogus claims are "Moes." MO stands for "mental observation," so it's just kind of implying that they're a little goofy. I'm not referring to someone with hypochondria/dysmorphia - just the ones who are too lazy to a free clinic, so they call 911 for a free ambulance ride to the ER.

 

[deleted6669]

Pb3= Pine Box By Bedside
Favorite Actual Notation Seen In Chart " This Pt Is Bogus" .
I Actually Saw An Elderly Pt Named Gomer A Few Years Ago. Hard To Keep From Laughing Especially With Their Complaint (wdao= Weak And Dizzy All Over)

 

[Dr. Rosenrose]

That Bitch= Charge Nurse