The Right Words

In medical school, we are reminded not to use medical jargon around patients; use words the patient will understand. But as medical students, we're just learning the vocabulary and it's so much easier for us to use laymen's terms. As we go on in residency and our careers, it's easier and easier to forget what patients know and understand. Recently, one of my attendings told a patient he'd be "prone." In medical jargon, prone is a positioning term meaning on one's belly (so the back is exposed to the surgeon). But when I witnessed the interaction, I had a feeling the patient thought he'd be quite vulnerable. We have to watch what we say.