Came across this article today and it prompted me to think about the many acronyms and new words I'm learning this year so far. They're not offensive like the one's mentioned in this article but holy cow, they sure are everywhere!! The only one I've heard about still in use from this article but haven't actually seen so far is FLK which stands for funny looking kid. Unlike some other ones in the article, that one has the purpose of saying that there is likely some syndrome happening because certain genetic syndromes have specific, different facial features associated with them (e.g. Down's syndrome). So FLK may be (inappropriately) used by someone to indicate that while they can't put their finger on it, there may be a genetic syndrome present vs just one illness/symptom that the child is having investigated.
As far as what I HAVE seen, I'm being bombarded by drug names (in both their generic and brand name forms – geez, I’d just like to remember one but just when I have learned "cefuroxime" I find out that "ceftan" is the same thing in it's brand name form!), new acronyms like GAEB (good air entry bilaterally re good breath sounds), NHSM (no hepatosplenomegaly which means your liver and spleen are not enlarged), S&NT (Soft and non-tender) plus a plethora of evidence-based medicine info like nomograms, SIRS criteria, and crash courses in ER trying to read chest x-rays and identify more than just the fact that’s there’s a rib cage present (slight exaggeration, but our training in x-rays has consisted of several lectures where the radiologist flips through 500 slides of chest x-rays, CAT scans and MRI’s of the body). And all this stuff is really just tangential to what I should be learning - about pediatric diseases, histories and physical exams and treatments for them. I'm having fun though and it is all very interesting, even on a slow day (which is rare).
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