Selecting a Doctor Glossary of Medical Terms

These are medical definitions of medical terms from the MedTerms.com medical dictionary that appear in the Selecting a Doctor article.

Board certified: Board certified in medicine means a physician has taken and passed a medical specialty examination.
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Cardiologist: A doctor who specializes in treating heart disorders.
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Condition: The term "condition" has a number of biomedical meanings including the following:

An unhealthy state, such as in "this is a progressive condition."
A state of fitness, such as "getting into condition."
Something that is essential to the occurrence of something else; essentially a "precondition."
As a verb: to cause a change in something so that a response that was previously associated with a certain stimulus becomes associated with another stimulus; to condition a person, as in behavioral conditioning.

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Family practice: The medical specialty which provides continuing and comprehensive health care for the individual and family . It is the specialty in breadth which integrates the biological, clinical, and behavioral sciences. The scope of family practice encompasses all ages, both sexes, each organ system, and every disease entity. (From the American Academy of Family Physicians )
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Gastroenterologist: A physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the gastrointestinal tract , including the esophagus , stomach , small intestine , large intestine , pancreas , liver , gallbladder , and biliary system.
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Hospital: It may seem unnecessary to define a "hospital" since everyone knows the nature of a hospital. A hospital began as a charitable institution for the needy, aged, infirm, or young.
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Internal medicine: A medical specialty dedicated to the diagnosis and medical treatment of adults. A physician who specializes in internal medicine is referred to as an internist. A minimum of seven years of medical school and postgraduate training are focused on learning the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases of adults. Subspecialties of internal medicine include allergy and immunology, cardiology (heart), endocrinology (hormone disorders), hematology (blood disorders), infectious diseases, gastroenterology (diseases of the gut), nephrology (kidney diseases), oncology (cancer), pulmonology (lung disorders), and rheumatology ( arthritis and musculoskeletal disorders).
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Oncologist: A physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer .
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Pediatrics: "Pediatrics is concerned with the health of infants, children and adolescents, their growth and development, and their opportunity to achieve full potential as adults." (Richard E.Behrman in Nelson's Textbook of Pediatrics)
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Pharmacy: A location where prescription drugs are sold. A pharmacy is, by law, constantly supervised by a licensed pharmacist.
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Primary: First or foremost in time or development. The primary teeth (the baby teeth) are those that come first. Primary may also refer to symptoms or a disease to which others are secondary.
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Primary care: The "medical home" for a patient, ideally providing continuity and integration of health care. All family physicians and most pediatricians and internists are in primary care. The aims of primary care are to provide the patient with a broad spectrum of care, both preventive and curative, over a period of time and to coordinate all of the care the patient receives.
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Referral: The recommendation of a medical or paramedical professional. If you get a referral to ophthalmology, for example, you are being sent to the eye doctor. In HMOs and other managed care schemes, a referral is usually necessary to see any practitioner or specialist other than your primary care physician (PCP), if you want the service to be covered. The referral is obtained from your PCP, who may require a telephone or office consultation first.
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Stress: Forces from the outside world impinging on the individual. Stress is a normal part of life that can help us learn and grow. Conversely, stress can cause us significant problems.
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