High-Yield Medical Abbreviations Every Medical Student Should Know
There is a lot to learn when you transition from the classroom into the clinical setting. Besides mastering all the medical jargon and knowledge, you also need to understand abbreviations for medical terms! In this post, I will be sharing some very common abbreviations that you will often see used in the hospital. While this is not comprehensive (many specialties will have their own abbreviations), this list contains the common ones that are applied across multiple specialties. Learning these will make transitioning into the clinical world a bit easier!
Clinical Presentation and Patient Status
These abbreviations are frequently used to describe how a patient appears or their clinical history:
- p/w: presents with
- c/o: complains of
- s/p: status post
- n/v: nausea and vomiting
- s/s: signs and symptoms
- VSS: vital signs stable
- WNL: within normal limits
- NL: normal
- ABNL: abnormal
Frequency and Medication Instructions
Understanding these timing abbreviations is vital for prescribing and treatment plans:
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| QD | every day |
| BID | 2x per day |
| TID | 3x per day |
| QID | 4x per day |
| PRN | as needed |
| QH | every hour |
| Q3H | every 3 hours |
| STAT | immediately |
Common Conditions, Diagnoses, and Findings
You will often see these used for common medical conditions and imaging findings:
- CHF: congestive heart failure
- HTN: hypertension
- DM: Diabetes Mellitus
- MVA: motor vehicle accident
- PNA: pneumonia
- PTX: pneumothorax
- HA: headache
- CA: cancer
- CXR: chest x-ray
- SOB: shortness of breath
- DOE: dyspnea on exertion
- GCS: Glasgow Coma Scale
Procedures, Treatments, and Miscellaneous Terms
These terms cover common hospital interventions and medical ethics:
- bx: biopsy
- dx: diagnosis
- fx: fracture
- rx: prescription
- tx: treatment
- d/c: discharge
- f/u: follow up
- NPO: nothing by mouth
- ASA: aspirin
- Abx: antibiotics
- DNR: do not resuscitate
- DNI: do not intubate
- M&M: morbidity and mortality