Kamela works as a nurse in Anchorage, Alaska. When she asked a patient how how he was doing post-surgery, the man responded with Well, I haven’t grown gills yet. It’s a jocular way of acknowledging that although he hadn’t recovered...
Rae from Baltimore, Maryland, works in a cardiac intervention lab where surgeons refer to the esophagus as the goose. Is that bit of medical slang limited to her workplace? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Goose...
Tom, a medical student in Minneapolis, Minnesota, says surgeons and emergency medical personnel compliment each other with the phrase strong work on that. The congratulatory expression strong work seems largely confined to medicine, though. Another...
A medical transcriptionist who majored in English reports that her co-workers are squabbling over a sentence: “The patient was brought to the operating room, and laid supine on the operating-room table.” This is part of a complete...
surgiversary n.— «Today is exactly one year from my surgery. (I refuse to refer to it as a “surgiversary.” It’s just not me.)» —“What a Year It’s Been” by thefatblackdog The Fat Black Dog Mar. 26...
toga n.— «In Mexico and Europe over the past two to three years, 98 patients have had the new weight-loss surgery, named Toga (for transoral gastroplasty).» —“Weight-Loss Surgery, No Cutting Required” by Denise...