Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-29-2019

Comments

This article has been peer reviewed. It is the authors' final version prior to publication in SKINmed, Volume 17, Issue 2, May 2019, Pages 90-91.

The published version is available here. Copyright © Pulse Marketing & Communications

Abstract

Periodically, our feathers become ruffled about the use or misuse of English in dermatology. 1, 2 We have railed against the derogatory term for crusted scabies3, suggested a contrived term to lessen the burden connoted by decubitus ulcers4, and discouraged renaming atopic dermatitis to atopiform dermatitis. 5 Imagine what the dermatologic lexicographers, Morris Leider (1908-1987) 6and Morris Rosenbaum, might be saying were they here today. 7

Using an appropriate word or words to describe an anatomic part or a portion of the skin is just good medical practice. We do not believe a lightning bolt will descend as portrayed in one wax model8, if we do not adhere to the rules and regulations of scientific American English. We do pay homage to the late Herman Beerman (1901-1995) 9, Professor of Dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania who was appalled at discussing a positive serology in diagnosing syphilis, as the RPR, Hinton, Eagles, or Kolmer test only had the ability to be reactive or non-reactive and not to make a diagnosis without clinical findings. The use of abbreviations has grown so much from the innocuous HUP for Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania that would annoy the late Ira Leo Schamberg (1909-1980) to the Joint Commission’s (Joint Commission on Hospital Accreditation’s) condemnation of several abbreviations in medical records; i.e. tid, prn, gr.

PubMed ID

31145056

Language

English

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