R) Medical Abbreviation

[Tadeo Lentz]

Haveyou ever wondered why you can't read the doctor's note or the letters and numbers on a prescription? Health care professionals often quickly scribble notes with important medical information that they would like a patient to reference in regard to the type of current, or recently diagnosed disease, syndrome, or other health condition(s). Have you ever seen the doctor's notes in your medical record and found peculiar abbreviations and jargon? Do you wonder what the letters and numbers mean on your prescriptions or other items related to a disease, syndrome, or disorder?

Doctors and other health care professionals commonly use a list of abbreviations, acronyms, and other medical terminology as a reference to rapidly search and accurately record information about, and give instructions to their patients. There is no standard or approved list used by health care professionals to search for medical acronyms or abbreviations. Therefore, it is important to understand the context in which the abbreviation or term has been used.

Abbreviations, acronyms, and medical terminology are used for many conditions, and for instructions on medication prescribed by your doctor. This is a shortlist of common abbreviations you may have seen on a doctor's notepad; a prescription drug package or bottle; lab or other test results; or in your doctor's notes.

Use this list as a resource for common abbreviations and acronyms used in the health care community, to quickly search and answer your questions about those letters and numbers of a drug your doctor has prescribed to you, or other notes from your doctor or other medical professionals.

A doctor of osteopathic medicine, also known as a D.O., is a fully trained and licensed doctor. A doctor of osteopathic medicine graduates from a U.S. osteopathic medical school. A doctor of medicine, also known as an M.D., graduates from a traditional medical school.

A major difference between D.O.s and M.D.s is that some doctors of osteopathic medicine use manual medicine as part of treatment. Manual medicine can include hands-on work on joints and tissues and massage.

After medical school, both kinds of doctors must complete training as residents in the specialty they choose. They also must pass the same licensing exam before they can treat people and prescribe medicines.

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Here is a list of commonly used acronyms and abbreviations used throughout the university, our college and the health care industry. When communicating to an external audience, avoid abbreviations except in situations of common usage.

2As the medical school graduating the largest number of students per year, SGU places the largest number of graduates into residency programs each year, based on internal SGU graduate/expected graduate and residency placement data as of March 2024.

3Average of 2019, 2020, 2021 scores. First-time pass rate is defined as the number of students passing USMLE Step 1 on their first attempt divided by the total number of students taking USMLE Step 1 for the first time. In order to be certified to take USMLE Step 1, students are required to pass all basic sciences courses.

4Average of academic years 2019, 2020, 2021 scores. First-time pass rate is defined as the number of students passing USMLE Step 2 CK on their first attempt divided by the total number of students taking USMLE Step 2 CK for the first time. USMLE Step 2 CK is typically taken upon completion of third-year core clinical rotations.

Search medical terms and abbreviations with the most up-to-date and comprehensive medical dictionary from the reference experts at Merriam-Webster. Master today's medical vocabulary. Become an informed health-care consumer!

CPR: Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation; also called mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. CPR is used during a medical emergency to keep oxygenated blood flowing to the brain and other vital organs through chest compressions and artificial ventilation.

The following medical terminology relates to procedures performed to measure the health of a patient and diagnose potential medical issues. There are many more terms to learn, but this list encompasses some of the most common medical abbreviations.

The following list of medical terminology are prefixes. Prefixes are phrases that are at the beginning of a word (pre = before); suffixes are attached to the end of a word. Learning the following prefixes and suffixes will help you build your medical terminology vocabulary quickly.

This medical terminology list should help you get started on mastering some key terms that are often used in medical settings. Medical acronyms and abbreviations of medical terms are used on a regular basis by healthcare professionals. It is beneficial to learn basic medical terminology while in medical school to help you succeed in your career. Ready to apply to take that next step and apply to medical school? Apply for admission to AUC School of Medicine.

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Active physicians: Physicians who are licensed by one of the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, or Puerto Rico are considered active, provided they are working more than 20 hours per week. Physicians who are retired, semi-retired, temporarily not in practice, or not active for other reasons or who have not completed their graduate medical education are excluded. Active physicians include those working in direct patient care or in administration, medical teaching, research, or other non-patient-care activities. Active physicians include those with an MD or a DO degree. The total number of active physicians may differ among tables in this report as a result of missing information in the data file. For example, to determine the percentage of active physicians who are female, the total number of active physicians excludes people whose sex was not reported in the data file.

First-year residents and fellows: Physicians in their first year of a graduate medical education (GME) program in their specialty are considered first-year residents or fellows. In some cases, the resident or fellow may have had prior GME training in a different specialty.

International medical graduate: An individual who graduated from a medical school outside the United States, Puerto Rico,1 or Canada is considered an international medical graduate (IMG). This includes U.S. citizens who completed their medical education outside the United States, Puerto Rico, or Canada. To be eligible for licensure and practice in the United States, all IMGs must be certified by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) and complete a residency training program in the United States. Graduates of Canadian and Puerto Rican medical schools are not considered IMGs because they do not have to be certified by the ECFMG to enter a residency training program in the United States. Please note that although graduates of Canadian medical schools who are practicing in the United States are not considered IMGs or U.S. MDs, they are included in the totals for active physicians. Graduates of Puerto Rican medical schools are considered U.S. MDs.

This report presents data for the practice specialties with the largest number of active physicians in 2021, meaning more than 2,500 active physicians. Specialty designations for active physicians rely on the primary specialty selected by the physician on the Census of Physicians administered by the American Medical Association (AMA). Specialty designations for residents and fellows reflect the training program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) in which the physician is training.

The AMA Physician Masterfile lists more than 200 specialty categories, and there are more than 140 ACGME specialties and subspecialties. To give a more comprehensive and informative view of the specialty category, we grouped some related specialties together, as shown in the left column of the table below. Specialty groupings used in this report are indicated in the table below.

CME is the abbreviation for Continuing Medical Education and consists of educational activities which serve to maintain, develop, or increase the knowledge, skills, and professional performance and relationships that a physician uses to provide services for patients, the public, or the profession.

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