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I’m a doc and I have to say that I agree with Alda on this.

Only thing is no one needs to “teach” anybody anything. Docs just need to have the time to be able to sit down, look folks in the eye and communicate in simple English appropriate to the patients understanding.

Everyone knows how to do this; obviously Alda’s docs have chosen to confuse him with medical jargon- maybe they thought he was really Hawkeye?

When a Dr. tells me something like this, I just say Dr. tell me in terms I can understand. I didn't spend the amount of money you did to learn what those terms mean. He laughs and tells me in terms I can understand. Not really difficult to get them to do this. A doctor tends to tell things in language he deals with, often forgetting his patient doesn't have a clue as to what he is talking about.

My other favorite comeback is, is that good or bad and if bad how long do I have?

After I got hurt, and they were just starting to put me under, the ER doc installed the fiber optic scope near my belly button and said "Wow, he's f***ed".

That was an explanation I could understand, even while I was fading out. ;)

/johnny

"I’m a doc and I have to say that I agree with Alda on this."

I agree in as much as it's nice to have a doc who can relate to laymen on familiar terms, but it sounds like Aldo is on a newspeak crusade to overhaul the language.

Professional jargon is like the free market; terms that are more precise and efficient for a given discipline will become common vernacular in those fields and have little meaning to those external to it. If the use of those terms makes the practitioners of those trades more effective and efficent, I'm all for it.

Frankly, if I was diagnosed with an unusual or complicated medical condition, I'd do everything within my power to become as much of a subject matter expert on it so that I could better communicate with the technician (physician) I had engaged to help me get through it. I don't hire mechanics to explain to me how they are going to fix my car; I just want them to fix it. It's up to me to know enough about my car and how it works so that when they explain to me what they're going to do, and (more importantly) what it's going to cost, I'll know if it makes sense or not.

Dr. Julius Hibbert: Homer, I’m afraid you’ll have to undergo a coronary bypass operation.

Homer Simpson: Say it in English, Doc!

Dr. Julius Hibbert: You’re going to need open-heart surgery.

Homer Simpson: Spare me your medical mumbo jumbo!

Dr. Julius Hibbert: We’re going to cut you open and tinker with your ticker.

Homer Simpson: Could you dumb it down a shade?