Communication, Clarity, & Medical Errors | Episode 55

Communication, Clarity, & Medical Errors

TAPP Radio Episode 55

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Second, listen to the regular episode after listening to the Preview (above)

When our spelling is perfect, it’s invisible. But when it’s flawed, it prompts strong negative associations. (Marilyn vos Savant)

 

Is Spelling Important?

9.5 minutes

I’ve done a complete turnaround in my teaching over the years —I used to be lenient about correct spelling, but now I’m a stickler for exactly correct spelling. In this segment I discuss my reasons.

• Examples of commonly confused terms with similar spelling (many of these are from Shawn Macauley). See below for expanded list (handout).
  • perineum, peritoneum
  • peroneal, perineal, peritoneal
  • ileum, ilium
  • coronoid, coracoid
  • abduction, adduction, addiction
  • public, pubic
  • cranial, crural, caudal, caudad
  • glans, glands
• Bonus handout!
  • Terms That Are Often Misspelled or Confused in A&P
  • Available only in the free podcast app (the TAPP APP)
    • For iOS devices: my-ap.us/TAPPiOS
    • For Android devices: my-ap.us/TAPPandroid
• Spelling IS important (TAPP blog post) my-ap.us/2Nesi8I
• Doing our part to reduce medical errors (TAPP blog post) my-ap.us/341FjsN
• Deaths from avoidable medical error more than double in past decade, investigation shows
  (Scientific American blog post) my-ap.us/2MLKgQW
• In a review of 337,000 patient cases, this was the No. 1 most common preventable medical error (news report) my-ap.us/2qDT8iK
• Prevalence, severity, and nature of preventable patient harm across medical care settings: systematic review and meta-analysis (research report) my-ap.us/31OAD88
• Official “Do Not Use” list of abbreviations (from the Joint Commission) my-ap.us/3217NBu
• From theAPprofessor.org
  • Spaced Retrieval Practice | Episode 1
  • Testing As a Teaching Strategy | Episode 2
  • Long Term Learning | Five Strategies for Teaching A&P
  • Testing as Teaching

 

Sponsored by HAPS

0.5 minute

The Human Anatomy & Physiology Society (HAPS) is a sponsor of this podcast.  You can help appreciate their support by clicking the link below and checking out the many resources and benefits found there. There are a bunch of 1-day regional workshops scattered all over the continent. There’s probably one near you coming up this year (or next)!

Anatomy & Physiology Society

theAPprofessor.org/haps

 

Alternate Spellings

3.5 minutes

Some terms can be correctly spelled more than one way. There is also an issue of differences in spelling from one dialect of English to another (e.g., U.K. English compared to U.S. English). If we are to expect our students to use correct spelling, we have to keep up with acceptable variations.

• End-of-Term Reviews Help Keep Your Course on Track | Episode 17 (discusses mammillary vs. mamillary)
• Is it Mamillary or Mammillary? (blog post from o-log-y) my-ap.us/2sqBZrK
• Gray anatomy or grey anatomy? (blog post from o-log-y) my-ap.us/2oEXMwj
• How Do You Spell the Color Gray? (blog post from Grammarly) my-ap.us/2N9Jldf
• Bonus handout!
  • Regional Spelling Differences 
  • Available only in the free podcast app (the TAPP APP)
    • For iOS devices: my-ap.us/TAPPiOS
    • For Android devices: my-ap.us/TAPPandroid

 

Sponsored by AAA

0.5 minutes

A searchable transcript for this episode, as well as the captioned audiogram of this episode, are sponsored by the American Association for Anatomy (AAA) at anatomy.org.

Searchable transcript

Captioned audiogram 

 

A Case for Proper Case

11.5 minutes

When we properly capitalize terms, it demonstrates our professionalism, serves as a teaching model for students, improves clarity, and potentially reduces medical errors. A capital idea!

• Font Case (brief summary of different font cases: sentence case, title case, all caps, etc.) my-ap.us/2pWCSsM
• Italic Text Generator (generates italic type for use in texts, tweets, etc.) my-ap.us/italic
• Title Case (generates proper title case for different standard styles; gives rules for title case) my-ap.us/TitleCase

 

Sponsored by HAPI Online Graduate Program

1 minute

The Master of Science in Human Anatomy & Physiology Instruction—the MS-HAPI—is a graduate program for A&P teachers. A combination of science courses (enough to qualify you to teach at the college level) and courses in contemporary instructional practice, this program helps you power up  your teaching. Kevin Patton is a faculty member in this program. Check it out!

nycc.edu/hapi

 

Professionalism as a Course Goal

3 minutes

Sometimes a student frets about the A&P course being “not a spelling course” or “not an English course” — but professional communication is an essential skill for health professionals. Why not add this statement to our syllabus and/or other course documents?

• The Syllabus Episode | Bonus | Episode 24
• Promoting Academic Integrity in Our Course | Episode 25
• Modeling Professional Integrity | Episode 26
• How Good Grammar Saves Lives and Other Reasons It’s Still Important (blog post) my-ap.us/3oMNfZ6

Last updated: February 5, 2021 at 16:43 pm