the "h" in ophthalmology

[DOCTORSAIB]

Ive been working in an ophthalmology department for about a year now. Ive noticed on several occasions that people (including docs from other departments) misspell ophthalmology. Its come to the point that I actually actively look for that missing "h" (opthalmology)....or they'll spell it "ophthamology" with no "l." Wondering if anyone else has noticed it as well....or am I just too anal about spelling?

DOCTORSAIB

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[BritneySpearsMD2B]

What about the missing "h" in DOCTORSAIB? If this makes no sense to you, then ignore this post since I'm making an assumption about you. 😀

 

[DOCTORSAIB]

Hi,

My assumption is that your assumption is that Im desi, right? Well, my assumption is that you're desi, right?.....try reading that fast 3X. Regardless, Im actually persian, and in persian you pronounce it w/o the "h" (not doctorshaib)...🙂

DOCTORSAIB

 

[Kicks]

Hey, i've noticed the same!
I'm a Portuguese medical student in czech republic.
I noticed this misspelling about a year ago, and when i confronted my british and american colleagues with this, they were really surprised and some even felt a bit insulted. Even when i explained the etymological origin of the word.
Well, this just to say that you are not alone in the world 😉
take care

 

[JMK2005]

I think most of us notice it. I don't feel the need to correct people about it though. Causes too much trouble and bad feelings all around.

I find it unacceptable, however, if ophthalmology is consistently misspelled on a medical student application. If they didn't care enough to get the spelling correct, then they didn't care enough to match.

 

[toulouselautrec]

I don't correct either...but I do praise when someone gets it right!

Positive reinforcement...

But please, don't misspell it on a personal statement...there's just no excuse for it. Your computer should be able to pick it up even if you can't!

 

[NEIGUY]

your clearly not busy enough!! 😀

 

[Pastrami King]

English writers all agree
On two “H”s in Ophthalmology.
There are two “L”s as well, you’ll see;
That’s in the root, four in Ophthalmologically.
The first “L” may be spoken quietly
As in calm or psalm or palmistry.

Count them if you are not clear.
Thirteen letters must appear
To make the noun, sixteen in all
For the modifier Ophthalmological
And then two more come naturally
For spelling Ophthalmologically.

The trick, the test, the special bit
Is the magic of pronouncing it.
The “P” is softened by the “H” to make the sound of “-ff”.
The next two letters are, of course, an ordinary “-th”.
Think “RudolPH THe red-…” and you’ll not be wrong.
The “PHTH” is a consonant diPHTHong.

Written by Bruce Lowden, 1993 (http://www.drlowden.ca/poem.htm)

 

[lizziestu]

I find it unacceptable, however, if ophthalmology is consistently misspelled on a medical student application. If they didn't care enough to get the spelling correct, then they didn't care enough to match.

I got a good laugh out of that, and I agree wholeheartedly!

 

[twintiger32]

optomology has an "h" in it?

 

[DOCTORSAIB]

Ive been working in an ophthalmology department for about a year now. Ive noticed on several occasions that people (including docs from other departments) misspell ophthalmology. Its come to the point that I actually actively look for that missing "h" (opthalmology)....or they'll spell it "ophthamology" with no "l." Wondering if anyone else has noticed it as well....or am I just too anal about spelling?

DOCTORSAIB

Wow, blast from the past! That's me when I was in grad school hoping that I'd get into "a" med school and MAYBE be lucky enough to land ophthalmology one day. I finally did get into med school a year later -- last guy off the waitlist, the day before orientation. August 6th, 2004. One of the best days of my life.

And now here I am! 😀

(Ps. people are still misspelling ophthalmology. I've seen it spelled correctly probably once all of intern year).

 

[JMK2005]

Hi,

My assumption is that your assumption is that Im desi, right? Well, my assumption is that you're desi, right?.....try reading that fast 3X. Regardless, Im actually persian, and in persian you pronounce it w/o the "h" (not doctorshaib)...🙂

DOCTORSAIB

Excuse my ignorance, but what's a "desi"?

 

[DOCTORSAIB]

Excuse my ignorance, but what's a "desi"?

People from S.E. Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc).

Pronounced "day-see." 🙂

For more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desi

 

[AwesomeSauce]

The first thing that they taught us on the first day of our first class of the first year of Optometry school was the proper spelling of "ophthalmology"

 

[DH78]

Wow, blast from the past! That's me when I was in grad school hoping that I'd get into "a" med school and MAYBE be lucky enough to land ophthalmology one day. I finally did get into med school a year later -- last guy off the waitlist, the day before orientation. August 6th, 2004. One of the best days of my life.

And now here I am! 😀

(Ps. people are still misspelling ophthalmology. I've seen it spelled correctly probably once all of intern year).

👍

What an awesome post to be able to make! I salute you.

 

[shiro1]

I'm happy to get an "opthalmology consult" as I have gotten consults in which the order was written as "optometry consult" Perhaps I should refer to one of my collegues in the optometry field as my services were not needed.

Also, years ago I had a spell checker try to correct my misspelled "ophthalmology" to "opthalmology".

 

[vin5cent0]

To be fair, I'm a pretty damn good speller (usually), and I would never have guessed it was Ophthalmology. Just doesn't make sense in my mind. Doesn't surprise me that anyone outside of the specialty misspells it.