Med terms
Anatomy Bloopers & Quirks
ER Triage & Vital Signs
Hollywood vs. Reality
Abbreviations & Acronyms
100

This suffix means inflammation  

-itis

100

Hitting this nerve against the humerus bone causes a sharp, tingling shock down your arm

Funny bone 

100

This is considered the normal, healthy baseline resting heart rate range for an adult.

60-100 bpm

100

Contrary to TV dramas, you should never use a defibrillator on a patient with this specific flatlined cardiac rhythm

asystole? (Defibrillators treat uncoordinated rhythms like V-Fib, not flatlines)

100

This 3-letter abbreviation stands for taking a medication "as needed."

PRN

200

The root word myo- refers to this tissue type.

Muscle

200

This vestigial, pouch-like organ in the lower right abdomen is famous for causing emergency surgeries when it becomes inflamed

appendix 

200

In disaster triage, a patient with a "black tag" represents this status

deceased (or expectant) 

200

TV shows often show doctors shoving a needle into a choking victim's throat; in reality, this abdominal thrust maneuver is the first line of defense.

Heimlich maneuver (or abdominal thrusts) 

200

If a chart dictates a patient is "NPO," it means they cannot have this.

Nothing by mouth

300

If a physician performs an oophorectomy, they are surgically removing this organ.

ovaries

300

Humans are born with roughly 300 of these, but adults only have 206 due to fusion

bones

300

This device measures oxygen saturation in the blood using light wavelengths beamed through a fingertip

pulse oximeter 

300

While movie characters wake up from these instantly with zero side effects, a traumatic brain injury causing prolonged unconsciousness is actually highly dangerous

coma (Accept: Concussion)

300

This legal document, abbreviated as HIPAA, protects patient privacy and data.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

400

This prefix means "slow," as seen in the term for a slow heart rate.

Brady

400

This muscular organ is the only one in the human body that can completely regenerate itself from just 25% of its original mass.

Liver

400

If a patient presents with a blood pressure reading of 190/120, they are experiencing this critical cardiovascular state

Hypertensive crisis (severe hypertension) 

400

In a memorable episode of The Office, Michael Scott accidentally burns his foot on a George Foreman grill. Medically, this injury is classified as a first-degree burn, meaning the damage was strictly limited to this specific outermost layer of the human skin.

Epidermis

400

An order written as "PO BID" means the patient should take the medication this way and with this frequency

By mouth twice a day

500

Translate this exact condition using roots: Atherosclerosis.

hardening of the fatty plaques/arteries

500

This tiny, flap-like structure prevents you from accidentally inhaling your lunch into your trachea

Epiglottis 

500

In severe trauma involving heavy extremity bleeding, emergency responders tightly wrap this specific medical device around a limb to completely stop the flow of blood and prevent life-threatening hemorrhagic shock.

Tourniquet 

500

In a tense trauma room scene, doctors manage a patient with a severe rupture of this major vessel, which is the largest artery in the human body and carries oxygenated blood directly away from the heart.

Aorta

500

This diagnostic scan stands for Magnetic Resonance Imaging

MRI

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