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Medical mispronunciations

Catherine E Yelland and Stephen D Yelland
Med J Aust 2003; 179 (11): . || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2003.tb05748.x
Published online: 1 December 2003

Doctors are often criticised for failing to communicate adequately with their patients and for using medical jargon. But what about “patient speak” — those words that are nearly what we thought we meant? This collection of medical mispronunciations has been carefully recorded in a notebook (yes, one from a pharmaceutical company) kept in the top drawer of a suburban general practitioner's desk, and edited over dinner by the medical members of the family: we share them with you for the festive season.


  • 1 Department of Geriatric Medicine, Royal Brisbane Hospital, Herston, QLD.
  • 2 General Practice, Walton Bridge Medical Centre, The Gap, QLD.


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