Spanish-English English-Spanish Medical Dictionary: Diccionario medico espanol-ingles ingles-espanol » (3rd Edition)

This Third Edition has been designed to give easier and faster access to over 20,000 comprehensive medical terms, technology-related medical terms, and medical abbreviations, plus definitions, translations, tips on pronunciation, signs and symptoms of common disorders, practical phrases used in daily communication with patients, and much more. The fully updated content includes new phrases from cardiology, immunology, neurology, oncology, ophthalmology, and neonatology—all fields noted for their new technical and procedural developments.

A new Anatomy Atlas features both English and Spanish labels. Consent, authorization, and release forms are included to obtain easier communication with patients. Appendices include additional phrases on HIV, AIDS, neonatology, and bioterrorism.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Kaye L. Crampton, MALS(Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center)
Description:McElroy and Grabb's third edition medical dictionary updates the 1996 second edition. Containing over 20,000 entries, it also offers tips on pronunciation, basic verb tenses, and some common idiomatic, health-related expressions.
Purpose:The purpose of this dictionary is to improve communication between patients and healthcare staff, and to this end, the authors include several attractive features in addition to the actual dictionary entries. In the ten years since the second edition, the medical field has undergone considerable change accompanied by an explosion of new terminology and procedures, many of which appear in this edition. Furthermore, they supply a comprehensive list of abbreviations, listed in a side-by-side format showing the equivalents in English and Spanish. These features can help with better patient-provider communication and help to eliminate the jargon and acronyms puzzling to all patients.
Audience:It is appropriate for practitioners and other healthcare personnel such as interpreters, medical office staff, etc. With this edition, the authors demonstrate both their language knowledge and their awareness of the medical field and its changing terminology.
Features:One highly promoted feature of this edition is the presence of illustrations. Though colorful and clearly labeled, they seem of limited use, given the number of high-quality anatomical illustrations for patient education available elsewhere. A far more useful appendix item is the collection of sample medical forms in English and Spanish. Generic consent forms, patient rights, and living will statements are helpful for organizations needing a quick translation or wanting to verify existing translations.
Assessment:The major drawback of the dictionary is its lack of notation about dialect. Non-native speakers must use caution! The Spanish-speaking world encompasses many countries, and the commonplace use of a word in one country may have a very different meaning in another country. Despite this weakness, however, owners of the second edition of this dictionary will want the updated edition for their collections, given the scope of changes in the health field over the last ten years. For those wanting an affordable Spanish-English English-Spanish medical dictionary, this one has many extras that set it apart from others in the field.