Please help me with a confusing school problem

[Kevin L.]

So maybe the term refers to Abnormal Development and doesn't refer to anything specific.

Thank you again.

 

[VictorR]

I alienated my professor when I asked for clarification . . . which is an old story with me.

If I recall correctly, someone getting upset when you ask for clarification can be a sign of them thinking that you are being a "smart aleck".

One way to potentially mitigate such misunderstandings is to state up front (in academia, there would usually be an accessibility office or coordinator) that you may seek clarification on things that you find confusing, and for an instructor to be as supportive as they can.

 

[Crossbreed]

Maybe the distinction is

• pediatric myelodysplasia vs.
• geriatric myelodysplasia...?

 

[Au Naturel]

When you hear the term used, you have to consider two different possibilities. You'll have to clarify with further questions. Maybe how you ask the question is the issue. If the patient is younger than the mid-50s, you can rule out the rare blood cancer.

 

[kenaij]

The example you give about the ambulance could quickly be figured out thou. As you stated one meaning of the word is a rare form of blood cancer that old people have. While the other is a birth defect usually found in young people. So a clarification of estimated age would take away most of the confusion right?
I`m not very knowledgable about medial term. But would you not elaborate by adding the words together like: Spida Bifida myelodysplasia. So it explains how severe the Spida Bifida is?

Don`t know if I`ll be returning to this post, because the word cancer is really triggering to me. And usually causes panic attacks. I start to think all the things I feel are related to cancer.
Just wanted to share a viewpoint.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

Hi guys:

I am in nursing school and--as an autistic adult--I struggle with literalness.

It was my understanding that the same medical term shouldn't be applied to two (or more) different diseases.

So, when we're studying pediatrics, we're told that myelodysplasia is the name for a severe form of spina bifida (a birth defect), yet when I look it up, I find that it's a rare form of blood cancer that tends to affect people over 60. These are two drastically different things, and ended up butting heads with my instructor.

So I dug deeper, and it seems that the same name is used as a medical term for spina bifida.

How do medical people keep such things straight?

Please see below:

View attachment 110139

View attachment 110144



I always thought that the purpose of scientific and medical nomenclature is to avoid ambiguity. I didn't take these snips off questionable websites. One website is from the University of Rochester neurosurgery program, and one website is from the NHS.

In pediatrics, we are discussing both spina bifida and pediatric cancer (and pediatric bone marrow transplants), and I struggle with the idea that my autism will cause me to do badly on a test by getting these terms mixed up . . . and possibly looking ignorant in Clinicals by getting my medical terms confused.

Can anyone clarify this? I would actually be very grateful.

And is the reason I'm confused because of my autism?

I work in one of the largest neonatal centers in the world. The term we use for "Spina Bifida" is myelomeningocele. Spina Bifida.

 

[Kevin L.]

The example you give about the ambulance could quickly be figured out thou. As you stated one meaning of the word is a rare form of blood cancer that old people have. While the other is a birth defect usually found in young people. So a clarification of estimated age would take away most of the confusion right?
I`m not very knowledgable about medial term. But would you not elaborate by adding the words together like: Spida Bifida myelodysplasia. So it explains how severe the Spida Bifida is?

Don`t know if I`ll be returning to this post, because the word cancer is really triggering to me. And usually causes panic attacks. I start to think all the things I feel are related to cancer.
Just wanted to share a viewpoint.

Thank you. I don't want you triggered, but I appreciate what you've given me.

 

[Kevin L.]

I work in one of the largest neonatal centers in the world. The term we use for "Spina Bifida" is myelomeningocele. Spina Bifida.

Thank you very much. We were also taught myelomeningocele, but myelodysplasia may be on an upcoming test (a final exam, as the semester ends August 6).

I don't think this confusion on this medical term will make or break me in the course . . . but it caused me to lose confidence that I understand medical terminology as well as I think I do.

Things like this cause me to 2nd guess myself.

If this was the only instance, I'd just move on . . . but there are other examples.

Very frustrating.

 

[Kevin L.]

Another reason why I may be overly sensitive about this ambiguity in medical terms has to do with my own emotional baggage.

When I was a paramedic, there was an instance where ambiguity in medical terms led to violence.

I was (at one point) a Field Training Officer, when meant that I trained new employees in the field, and I graded my students on the proper use of medical terminology.

So, I had a patient who was a 15 year old girl who was maybe 16 weeks pregnant, and was cramping and bleeding.

We transported her to hospital, and my student (anxious to get a good grade) informed the ER staff that the patient was having symptoms of a spotaneous abortion, which is the medical term for a miscarriage.

Well . . . the parents were fundementalist Southern Baptist, and the father was either a deacon in the church or a minister of some kind.

He goes up to his daughter and slaps her across the face and said "You're not only a slut, but a murderer! You would kill your own flesh and blood? You're dead to me!"

This is because all he could hear was "abortion" . . . and it wasn't like we could privately give the doctor the report, as the protocol is that verbal reports have to be done at bedside in front of the patient(s).

When we tried to explain that the medical term for a miscarriage is "spontaneous abortion," he became convinced that we were trying to conceal his daughter's actions.

As another example, there is an anticoagulant drug called "Warfarin," which goes by the trade name Coumadin.

Well . . . Warfarin is also a rat poison.

I've seen elderly Alzheimer's patients get triggered and start throwing things when they became convinced that we were trying to poison them (usually so we can steal their money) when a nurse or doctor mentioned Warfarin instead of using the name Coumadin.

Please see below:

So . . . I always instructed my students to talk about Coumadin rather than Warfarin when discussing medications. I had lots of elderly dementia patients, and this simple adjstment avoided a lot of violence and patient anxiety.

 

[Outdated]

In Australia the name Warfarin is only associated with the blood thinning medication. Common names associated with rat poison are RatSack and Strychnine.

 

[Kevin L.]

In Australia the name Warfarin is only associated with the blood thinning medication. Common names associated with rat poison are RatSack and Strychnine.

Thank you.

 

[Outdated]

I've had to help instruct a few old blokes about that one. It has a list of foods they need to avoid due to high potassium content but Bananas aren't on that list - possibly one of the most potassium rich foods known to man. Dangerous in a country where bananas grow natively.

 

[Kevin L.]

I've had to help instruct a few old blokes about that one. It has a list of foods they need to avoid due to high potassium content but Bananas aren't on that list - possibly one of the most potassium rich foods known to man. Dangerous in a country where bananas grow natively.

I agree with you.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

Another reason why I may be overly sensitive about this ambiguity in medical terms has to do with my own emotional baggage.

When I was a paramedic, there was an instance where ambiguity in medical terms led to violence.

I was (at one point) a Field Training Officer, when meant that I trained new employees in the field, and I graded my students on the proper use of medical terminology.

So, I had a patient who was a 15 year old girl who was maybe 16 weeks pregnant, and was cramping and bleeding.

We transported her to hospital, and my student (anxious to get a good grade) informed the ER staff that the patient was having symptoms of a spotaneous abortion, which is the medical term for a miscarriage.

Well . . . the parents were fundementalist Southern Baptist, and the father was either a deacon in the church or a minister of some kind.

He goes up to his daughter and slaps her across the face and said "You're not only a slut, but a murderer! You would kill your own flesh and blood? You're dead to me!"

This is because all he could hear was "abortion" . . . and it wasn't like we could privately give the doctor the report, as the protocol is that verbal reports have to be done at bedside in front of the patient(s).

When we tried to explain that the medical term for a miscarriage is "spontaneous abortion," he became convinced that we were trying to conceal his daughter's actions.

As another example, there is an anticoagulant drug called "Warfarin," which goes by the trade name Coumadin.

Well . . . Warfarin is also a rat poison.

I've seen elderly Alzheimer's patients get triggered and start throwing things when they became convinced that we were trying to poison them (usually so we can steal their money) when a nurse or doctor mentioned Warfarin instead of using the name Coumadin.

Please see below:

View attachment 110191



View attachment 110189

So . . . I always instructed my students to talk about Coumadin rather than Warfarin when discussing medications. I had lots of elderly dementia patients, and this simple adjstment avoided a lot of violence and patient anxiety.

As you're figuring out words have different meanings dependent upon context and perspective. It's critical that one pauses to clarify before making an interpretation. Drugs can be therapeutic agents, or deadly poisons. The terms "disease" and "theory" can have different meanings depending upon how and where it's used. So-called "common language" meanings and "medical or scientific" meanings can differ with the same word. Be careful with language. I have been a part of many a long thread discussing this very topic when people read a medical word and get all emotionally bent, when all it was is that they were unaware of medical terminology and how these words are used.

Context and perspective.

 

[Kevin L.]

As you're figuring out words have different meanings dependent upon context and perspective. It's critical that one pauses to clarify before making an interpretation. Drugs can be therapeutic agents, or deadly poisons. The terms "disease" and "theory" can have different meanings depending upon how and where it's used. So-called "common language" meanings and "medical or scientific" meanings can differ with the same word. Be careful with language. I have been a part of many a long thread discussing this very topic when people read a medical word and get all emotionally bent, when all it was is that they were unaware of medical terminology and how these words are used.

Context and perspective.

Thank you.

 

[Crossbreed]

I have been a part of many a long thread discussing this very topic when people read a medical word and get all emotionally bent, when all it was is that they were unaware of medical terminology and how these words are used.

Context and perspective.

Related: about a month ago, I was seen in our local ER for a persistent vertigo. On the parting info sheet, they wrote dizziness & giddiness...!
I looked "giddiness" up and found out what it meant in a medical context. (I never would have guessed otherwise.)