Medical and scientific terminology

Use this forum to discuss the July 2019 Book of the month, "Defining Moments of a Free Man from a Black Stream" by Dr Frank L Douglas.
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Browneh
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Re: Medical and scientific terminology

Post by Browneh »

I think the medical jargon added to my understanding of his story - however, I may be slightly biased as I do study Biology. I feel like when a medical-based memoir is written, it's important to include some of this jargon, as it is typically the easiest way to describe a condition, diagnosis, etc. and these terms tend to be a universally understood among the scientific community.

Although, I do feel like they shouldn't take away from the story - if it's not something that 'normal' people in everyday life encounter, the author should really add a short description. For example, "cardiovascular disease" is a pretty simple term to understand. But take "varicella", many people will recognise it's common name (chicken pox) but not it's scientific name.
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Post by iced_sunshine »

I think it can be dangerous to put too much jargon of any kind in a book. Most people reading the book will have little to no understanding of the terms and will either hurry past them (and thus not accord them proper weight) or stop to look them up. Either way, the author is bound to lose.
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Post by HansonThoughts »

If his readers have the time and patience to give serious thought to the patter, I would overlook it. But as a layman, I cannot. Told to a person like me, the jargon can be compelling. That is my feeling with this. All it is meant to do is to elicit a frantic search for the dictionary.
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Herbstlicht
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Post by Herbstlicht »

I do agree that the author used some pretty advanced medical terminology. While this doesn't bug me as much as when I feel authors underestimate the readers' intelligence, they must take into consideration that not only specialists will read the book.
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amandathebibliophile
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Post by amandathebibliophile »

No matter how wonderful a book, they can’t all be for everyone! I didn’t read this book, but it sounds like a background in the medical field (or at least a familiarity with its vocabulary) would go a long way towards being able to fully appreciate this book.
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Post by Nicole_Boyd »

I agree. I found it hard to follow at times and just plain boring during these parts. I think he would have done well to skip these tedious sections and keep the flow of the story moving forward.
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Sheila_Jay
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Post by Sheila_Jay »

It is unfortunate that for me I do not have a background in medicine like some of the readers; therefore I could not understand most of the terms straightaway. I mus say that despite the challenge, in the end I learnt a few medical terms that I did not even know that existed in the first place. However, the book would have been much better for people like me had the author further explained the quite complex terms.
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Post by Syson Dolph »

I love a book with new terminologies, even though they maybe difficult to pronounce. I spare a moment to look them up in the dictionary or via internet. I love the medical and scientific terms the author used.
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Post by Ivana Tomaš »

Specific terms from different fields, especially medicine in this case, can be very interesting and instructive, although, unfortunately they can also be grueling and can distract you from the story.
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Post by Lady-of-Literature »

I would say, yes. Not in the sense that always understood the terms being use since I have no real knowledge on these topics, however I am a major fan of stories that involve medicine and mysteries of the sorts. So for me, It sort of glued everything together rather nicely.
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Post by Nikolas Farmakis »

I think that the added scientific and medical terms can shift the focus of the reader from the central story. However, the terms can be considered beneficial, as the reader gains more knowledge about the scientific fields.
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Post by Kaylee Elmer »

I find it very distracting when books have terminology that is too difficult to understand. If it seems crucial to the story, I try to look it up, but then that takes the enjoyment out of reading for me. If it doesn't seem super important, I skip over it, but then what was the point of including it in the book?
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Post by Mrunal Tikekar »

I can imagine how some readers might struggle with understanding the medical terms and that it can get distracting. On the other hand, I wonder if appropriate terms are not used, the story might run a risk of oversimplification. Ideally, there has to be a meaning of technical terms at the bottom of the page itself.
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Post by nageena_rasheed »

Nowadays after covid-19 many people have strted to get used to many medical terms and conditions. Although they are quite difficult and distract a reader from main story, one should have some hand on practice about terms.
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Post by jhunt »

Personally, I enjoyed the medical and scientific terminology as it felt it was adding to all the different lessons I was learning from reading this novel.
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