Physiatrist pronunciation

[lejeunesage]

If you're like me, at some point you heard someone (like Dr. Ernie Johnson or Dr. Gary Clark) say fizz-EE-at-rist instead of fizz-EYE-ut-rist/fizz-EYE-a-trist and wondered if somehow you were saying it wrong.

The short answer is that you're not wrong. So, what's up with the alternative pronunciation.

Let's start with the root of the problem: iatros (ἰατρός), the ancient Greek word for physician.
The word is pronounced EE-at-ros. So, the people who say fizz-EE-at-rist or fizz-EE-at-ree (that just sounds wrong) are being more faithful to the ancient Greek root.

So, are the rest of us wrong?

No.

If you were saying the word around 500 years ago (had the discipline been in existence), you would have actually pronounced it fizz-EE-at-rist. But around 500 years ago, the pronunciation of stressed vowels in English shifted - it's called the Great Vowell Shift... look it up, it's like, an actual thing!

If you've taken any other Western European language, you'll see that they pronounce a, e, i, "ah," "ay," and "ee" respectively. English speakers don't anymore. Nobody tries to put food on the TAH-ble for instance when it's just as easy to put food on the TAY-ble.

So, if you want to be consistent with the rest of modern English, say physiatry like you say psychiatry. It's the same ἰατρός root, and it's consistent with the way people say pod-EYE-uh-tree or EYE-at-ro-gen-ic.

The reason people say syke-ee-AT-ric (psychiatric) and fizz-ee-AT-ric (physiatric) is because in those words, the stress is not on the i. If you want to be technical, it's on the penultate instead of the antipenultate syllable.

So, to make a long story short, neither pronunciation is wrong, but fizz-EE-at-rist is probably more affected. If people who say it that way wanted to be consistent, they'd talk about, among other things,

- HE-pertension
- HIPPO-tension! (hypotension)
- hippo-glee-SAY-mia (hypoglycemia)
- Sick-ee-at-rists (psychiatrists)
- BEceps and TREEceps muscles (biceps and triceps)

But... I haven't yet met anyone who says that. So, let's relax about pronunciation and focus on being good phys-EYE-atrists.

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[padresp]

Awesome.

Also, from http://www.physiatry.org/?page=history,
"In 1946, the AMA Council on Physical Medicine voted to sponsor the term "physiatrist" (fizz-ee-at'-trist) and physiatry (fizz-ee-at'-tree) with the accent on the third syllable. This is how the pronunciation appears in most American dictionaries."

 

[Taus]

I have never met anyone except very old school academic rehab docs who pronounce it that way w the emphasis in "AT"

You may have a shred of a chance of another physician, let alone laymen, knowing what you're talking about if you emphasize the "Eye"

 

[MedBronc23]

Dr. Johnson as a guest professor told our residency program that Dr. Krusen would roll over in his grave since we all pronounce it the normal way fiz eye a trist. He was not joking or pleased.

Tomato tomato my relatives still don't know what I do. At least when I finish sports med fellowship I can say I'm a sports rehab physician or sports med doc or non operative sports med physician

People get sports but function doctor is somewhat amorphous. Not surprising that most fiz eye a trists are sub specializing and id as being a brain doc sports doc sci doc pain doc neuromuscular doc amputee doc spine doc peds rehab doc or whatever