In general terms, when one does not know the meaning of a particular word if he or she cannot glean it from the context of its use in a sentence or from its apparent etymology will look it up in a dictionary. Even if the individual has some general idea, he or she may want to consult a particular lexicon of terms so that the precise significance of that entry is understood. Translating this analogy to the field of medicine and medical terminology, when one needs a bit of clinical vocabulary elucidated for his or her sake—a distinctly possible situation given the frequent use of exceedingly long names with Latin roots and multiple affixes—he or she is apt to consult a medical dictionary. Though certainly, this should be in every doctor and nurse’s possession, it is realistically not a bad reference material for anyone to have in consideration of the fact that conditions previously unbeknownst to the average American may well up within them at any given time. Some notes as to what a medical dictionary might entail.
- Again, as stated, a print or electronic medical dictionary is constructed with the object of providing as many valid medical terminology entries as possible. Of course, different dictionaries will be created for different audiences. Professionals in the field of medicine, for instance, might prefer a medical dictionary that employs as much technical medical terminology as possible. People less experienced in these matters, meanwhile, will likely want a reference that explains anatomical and physiological phenomena more succinctly. Additionally, this “layperson’s” medical dictionary would likely be more accessible and appealing to the reader if it were to contain illustrations and/or photographs throughout the text for the sake of a frame of reference.
- Another key component of a well-thought-out medical dictionary is to highlight when equivalent medical terminology exists for a single idea. For example, both “hypertension” and “high blood pressure” correspond to the incidence of unusually high arterial pressure, yet this much is not immediately apparent to those who are not proficient with either term. The same applies to synonymous concepts like “vertigo” and “dizziness”. Perhaps more so than with any other type of dictionary, it is arguably essential for a medical dictionary to include as many “See also” equivalency notations as possible.
- It should be noted that a medical dictionary is not the same thing as a medical encyclopedia, hence the different names for the two. As it must be repeated, a medical dictionary is devoted to defining medical terminology in a way that can be considered both complete and informative without being confusing or unwieldy. A medical encyclopedia, on the other hand, is engineered so that it may discuss clinical topics at length, expanding as much as needed to fulfill what the editors consider to be a sufficient explanation of the topic. In truth, both are useful and as with different medical dictionaries in them of themselves, they are each created with a separate audience and function in mind.
