"FROM A NOT ENTIRELY BENIGN PROCEDURE", by PERRI KLASS, is a story which presents a Medical Student describing the numerous jargon and abbreviations he learns during his Hospital internship.
During the first three months, the narrator is versed with many jargon and abbreviations. The author supports this idea, by citing some of the jargon and abbreviations used by the Doctors and medical Students of the Hospital. For example, they use words like LOL-Little Old Lady, "SCP,SOB,..."- without chest pain, shortness of breath. The narrator becomes so familiar with medical jargon and abbreviations and assumes his mother; an English professor is versed with these jargon and abbreviations as well.
The narrator also learned the patterns of speech and the grammatical conventions. The Patient is always the subject of the verb. For example, instead of saying that a Patent's blood pressure fell or that his cardiac enzymes rose, they say "He dropped his pressure". "He bumped his enzymes.
The narrator also mentions the use of eponymous terminologies by some of the Medical Staff and he thinks this is a little too far. To support this, he cites a Medical Student who never says "capillary pulsations". He calls it "Quincke's pulses".
He also mentions the use of locutions, which he thinks can have a negative effect on beginning Medical Students. For example, a pregnant woman with sickle cell represents a failure of genetic counseling.
The author further explains that, the use of acronyms helps the Doctor to maintain some distance from the patients. Here we note that, the patients pain and problems are taken away when their pains and problems are reformulated into a language they do not even speak. This also helps to reduce their emotional impact. For example, at the Patients bed site, the Doctor will say to an intern, "Naturally, we're worried about adeno-CA"without mentioning lung cancer.The use of acronyms also contributes to a sense of closeness and a spirit of professionalism among people who are under stress. The medical team.
In conclusion, the Medical Student is proud of himself because he is able to understand what Doctors say and write. This enables him to communicate effectively with his colleagues. This language is a professional speech and like any language, to use it properly, one needs to absorb not only the vocabulary but the structure, logic and attitudes as well.
