Medical diagnoses in Latin?

Grace Carter80 said:Sulcus means groove
🙂

😬
What about all the different types of grooves then?
And what kind of practical benefit would that actually offer patients? Would we even be able to pinpoint the exact location of a groove back then?
It would be like how regional dialects work—everyone would have their own specific terminology. One group might call it a groove, while another calls it a furrow or a depression, or whatever else they decide. We’d end up with doctors divided by their local slang, where every tiny anatomical detail becomes a point of confusion because of how it's named...🤣

Look, I totally get where you're coming from... it really just comes down to the individual. Honestly, because of the whole Sulcus thing and the constant market swings, I actually pulled out an anatomy atlas and went through it image by image with my patient. We were actually having a blast! 🙂 Afterward, some of the senior doctors gave me a little pat on the back—with that classic, condescending "Oh, don't worry, you'll grow out of this phase" kind of vibe.

Awesome! And I really hope it sticks with you.

Grace Carter80 said:hold up, did this guy seriously write cat-scratch disease instead of BMO? 🤣
i can't even believe it...

man, my pathology professor used to lecture us on it calling it nothing but "...or cat-scratch disease"!

Man, what a mess... I know we all learned using standard "American" 😁
Did you catch any other gems like that, Mr. Pathology?
Maybe he was just trying way too hard to sound professional... 😬

I don't even know, it's been over a decade now...

Karen Nguyen said:What about the medulla oblongata?
or the spinal cord?
There are plenty of terms that have variations in different languages—take "spinal cord," for instance—but people don't really use them casually because even if you tell someone it’s the spinal cord, they probably wouldn't be able to point to where that actually is. Don't get me wrong, I don't know every single technical term either, but some things just don't have a direct substitute. It’s simply easier to remember and more efficient to use when one specific word tells you exactly what it is.
How would you even go about naming a Sulcus?
It's just this tiny little groove. There are hundreds of them, and they all start with "sulcus" this or "sulcus" that.

I happen to be familiar with those terms, since my medical school curriculum provided us with a foundation in Latin and the structures of the nervous system.😬

Look, I agree that basic brain structures—and honestly, every part of the body—have their own Latin names. That’s what doctors and specialists study because, frankly, there isn't any other way to learn it.😁 But the issue here wasn't about the existence of Latin terminology itself; it was about writing a MEDICAL REPORT entirely in Latin... exclusively in Latin. If you're a doctor and you actually have the desire and the patience to sit down with every patient (or anyone curious enough to ask) and explain what every single term means, then more power to you. But I assume that’s a rarity, given the sheer MASS of practitioners who simply don't bother.

My point is, what happens if I find an old report from ten years ago that I suddenly need to reference, and I'm stuck staring at a Latin diagnosis of a disease? Am I supposed to have to track down my physician just to get a translation?!?
By the way, there shouldn't be an argument over using Latin, since that's how doctors communicate with one another, but surely you could include an American English translation as well. After all... only a small fraction of the population in the US has a high level of education, and even among those, only a tiny percentage ever sat through a Latin seminar in med school. So, presumably, only doctors and students or professors of Latin wouldn't require further clarification😬 ?!?

Wait, did someone actually send you the entire medical report in Latin?? I usually just stick to the diagnosis... 😈
That’s how we were trained back in med school. But hey, if there's anything specific you're curious about, just ask.

coastalrider94 said:I actually happen to know what those terms mean because my college curriculum included Latin and the anatomy of the nervous system. 😬

I agree that basic brain structures—honestly, pretty much every part of the body—have specific Latin names. Doctors and other specialists have to learn them because there’s really no other way to study medicine effectively. 😁 But the issue here isn't about the Latin terms themselves; it's about writing the medical REPORTS exclusively in Latin. If you're a doctor with the time and patience to sit down and explain every single term to every patient who cares, more power to you. I respect that, but I assume most doctors simply don't have that kind of time... and I mean MOST of them.

Think about it: what happens if a report is ten years old and you suddenly need it for something, but all you have is this Latin diagnosis? Am I supposed to track down my doctor just to get a translation?
In any case, we shouldn't make a huge deal out of the Latin usage since it's how doctors communicate with one another, but why not just include an American English translation too? After all, only a tiny fraction of people in the US have advanced degrees, and even among those, how many actually studied Latin in med school? It's probably only necessary for doctors and students or Latin professors to have those extra explanations provided. 😬 ?!?

Fair enough. I'm not against using the native language; there's absolutely no reason to insist on writing everything in Latin when English works perfectly fine.
But even if you translate everything into plain English, you still might not fully grasp the clinical details. I am IN FAVOR of translations, but I don't think it will necessarily help a layperson understand exactly where a bone was broken. They'll know it happened, certainly, but they won't understand the precise location. And honestly, does it really matter to the average person how a specific fracture is phrased in Latin? 😬
Besides, if someone needs that diagnosis ten years down the road, they'll likely be taking it back to a doctor anyway, since the doctor will probably need to review it too.

Genghis Khan said:Who on earth would write out an full medical report in Latin?? My standard practice is simply to list the diagnosis 😈
That is how we were trained in med school. Besides, if there is anything specific you need to know, you can always just ask me.

Oh, what a total SMART ASS 😁