Random whimsy

Hi all two faithful readers! I know it's been a while... I've been bored out of my mine, er, busy lately and haven't really had much blog fodder. However, I'm in a whimisical mood today, so thought I'd take some time to address one of the necessary evils of the shared medical profession. Namely,

abbreviations...

That's right, those annoying acronyms and other little things that make medical-ese sound like a while new language. In many ways it is, as myself and May B. Insane commented when we were in vet school together. In many ways acquiring a medical education renders you forever unable to hold a normal conversation with non-medical family and friends. Anyway, I digress a bit. On to today's topic...

abbreviations. (Insert drum roll here)

There are many medical abbreviations out there and many are particular to the human medical establishment and the veterinary medical establishment. Here are a few. I'll be adding to these as the week progresses.

ADR- very scientific and technical term that translates to ain't doin' right. This is a catch all, a panacea for stuff where we really don't know what's going on or have unspecific signs. Commonly a descriptor as well. "That dog is ADR and in the hospital for the night."

HBC- ham, bacon, cheese... er, no, that's what I want for lunch... Hit By Car is the direct translation of HBC. Not an often mentioned one in human medicine, very common in veterinary medicine. "We have an HBC en route."

CBC- complete blood count, same as for human medicine. A count and morphological review of the red and white blood cells.

PRN- as needed, literal translation is some Latin phrase I can't remember right now...

WB- will bite, what we might put on a cage card of an aggressive patient. Probably not something you see too often in human medicine, depending on what specialty you're in...

NPO- another latin phrase that means nothing by mouth.

More to come, feel free to request explanations of abbreviations as well.