Thursday, September 21, 2006

Musings on "Vasculopath"

I don't like the word "vasculopath." Partially because it's dehumanizing. But also it implies a certain degree of therapeutic nihilism: this patient is going to lose their limbs, die of a myocardial infarction or a stroke, and there isn't much we can do about it. Since so many people have severe vascular disease and since there is actually a lot that can be done, the term "vasculopath" should be retired.

1 comment:

Jenny said...

I'm so glad to hear you say this and I agree. I hate to hear "dehumanizing" terms in medicine, gives me the heebie geebies.