Language Skills Worksheet #8

Doctors frequently dictate sentences which, although well-intentioned, imply that a person other than the patient is being diagnosed or receiving treatment.

Each one of these statements was dictated by a licensed physician. Diagnose what is wrong with the dictating doctor's statement and write your own version of what the physician failed to communicate.

"Mr. M., who is 70 years old and has significant atherosclerotic coronary disease, was recently admitted to the hospital on the 10th by Dr. W. after he passed out in his cardiac rehab class."

Diagnosis:

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Corrected Text:

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"The patient is an 84-year-old male who is a patient of Dr. R. who, one day prior to admission, had dental extraction done and used several Tylenol #3 with codeine pills for pain control."

Diagnosis:

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Corrected Text:

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"The patient is a 69-year-old white female with a past medical history of having sacral decubitus with debridement and excision done by Dr. K., who developed an episode of ventricular fibrillation and was successfully resuscitated postoperatively."

Diagnosis:

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Corrected Text:

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