Medical jargon is source of confusion for non-physicians - Medical Xpress

In enactment published successful the Journal of Hospital Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School researchers examined whether the wide nationalist understands the aesculapian jargon that physicians typically usage successful their introductions to patients. They recovered specialty names and seniority titles are sources of misunderstanding.

"Jargon is pervasive successful medicine and the accidental for misunderstanding owed to this terminology begins the instant that physicians present themselves to patients," said Emily Hause, MD, MPH, a pediatric rheumatology chap astatine the U of M Medical School. "We recovered that astir radical can't specify specialty names nor correctly fertile aesculapian seniority titles. Physicians should picture their medical specialty and relation connected the patient's attraction squad successful plain connection to assistance trim this root of imaginable confusion."

Volunteer participants astatine the 2021 Minnesota State Fair completed an physics survey that measured their cognition of aesculapian specialties and titles. Of the 14 specialties included successful the survey, six specialties were correctly defined by little than fractional of the respondents:

• Neonatologists: 48%
• Pulmonologists: 43%
• Hospitalists: 31%
• Intensivists: 29%
• Internists: 21%
• Nephrologists: 20%

When asked to fertile aesculapian roles, lone 12% of participants correctly placed these titles successful order: medical student, intern, elder resident, chap and attending.

Further probe is suggested to survey cognition connected further specialties and get much demographic information.

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More information: Emily Hause et al, What's successful a name? Laypeople's knowing of aesculapian roles and titles, Journal of Hospital Medicine (2022). DOI: 10.1002/jhm.12971