Medical Words for Jean-Baptiste

[Guest guest]

Okay, Jean-Baptiste -- you ready?

" Post-graduate training " means education you have after you

finish college, or medical school. They want to know what kind of

" extra " training you have.

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" Board Certified " … There are twenty-four officially

recognized American medical " Boards " . These Boards are medical

organizations which certify a doctor to be competent in a particular

specialty of medicine. (A specialty is something like neurology,

dermatology, etc.)

These 24 Boards are part of a parent organization known as the

American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS).

For a physician to become Board-certified, he or she must complete

an approved residency (basic hospital training) in the applicable

specialty, receive recommendations attesting to professional and

ethical competence from professors, pass written and oral exams, and

be in active practice for a certain amount of time. I have read

that the process is not particularly difficult, and most doctors

pass on the first try.

Here are the 24 specialties: http://www.abms.org/member.asp

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What are CME hours?

CME stands for " Continuing Medical Education. " CME hours

means time that a doctor spends in certified educational activities

that " serve to maintain, develop, or increase the knowledge,

skills, and professional performance and relationships that a

physician uses to provide services to patients, the public, or the

profession. "

Here is a site that discusses CME for Neurologists:

http://www.neurology.org/cme/faq.shtml

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" Diagnosis " is the process by which the doctor decides what

is wrong with you. The doctor diagnoses you, and then gives you a

diagnosis. For example, I have a diagnosis of MS.

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" Second Opinion " is when a patient gets a diagnosis from one

doctor, and then goes to another doctor to verify the diagnosis, or

to learn more. In this country, we love second opinions.

I hope this helps, Jean-Baptiste!

You are learning enough to become an American Doctor!

-- Maureen