As a followup to the discussion on common medical abbreviations in this week's English Workshop/Practical, you can check out the guide to 'Common Medical Abbreviations' on the Clinician's Ultimate Reference site. As the Wikipedia entry on the subject notes, Abbreviations are used very frequently in medicine. They boost efficiency as long as they are used intelligently. The advantages of brevity should be weighed against the possibilities of crypticness (making the communication harder for others to understand) and ambiguity (having more than one possible interpretation). In other words, a smart communicator uses good shortcuts, but makes sure that other people will understand what he means. Certain medical abbreviations should be avoided to prevent mistakes.
Link:
Common Medical Abbreviations
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