Essay On Derogatory Slang

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“Go on, dive in. You’ll have to do some digging... she’s big heifer”. Such was one of my earliest forays into surgical medicine. As a student new to the clinical environment, I was somewhat surprised by the pervasiveness of derogatory slang used to describe patients, and I questioned how I wanted to interact with those around me - be they doctors, patients or students. Reading around this topic led to an excerpt by Komesaroff (2008) in which he presents his theory of micro ethics. Addressing the disparity between traditional bioethical teachings and the realities of clinical practice, he ultimately emphasises the importance of the smallest of ethical decisions in patient care - be it facial expression, tone of questioning or the often inconspicuous acts of trust.
A recent article published in the AMA Journal of Ethics entitled Derogatory Slang in the Hospital Setting discussed the ethical import of argot used by medical professionals. As Goldman presents, argot - or slang- serves as a code employed by a particular group to convey meaning to another member without the comprehension of a bystander. It may serve to provide emotional distance between the speaker and a complex or …show more content…

As Komesaroff warns, the consequences of such neglect can be substantial - for both patient and practitioner. When considering the dynamic nature of clinical interaction, the outcome of which is the sum of “a continuum of decisions of almost infinitesimal magnitude” (Komesaroff, 2008), the impact of derogatory medical slang becomes all the more apparent. Carrying this reflection into the future, all I can hope is that when I myself am seeking distance from a trying situation, I am not too often tempted into disparaging patients or

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