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Decoding medical jargon from television emergency rooms

Understanding TV doctors' weird and wonderful medical glossary

Decoding medical jargon from television emergency rooms
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© NL Beeld

StarsInsider
09/10/2025 12:00 ‧ 4 days ago | StarsInsider

TV

Medicine

"Stat," "V-fib,"

"push one of atropine..." The jargon used in television medical dramas can be baffling. Scripts call for authenticity in the emergency room, but to the uninitiated, what's being said likely sounds like gobbledygook. Only when decoded do these mysterious medical words make sense.

In this gallery, we look at 15 terms from the weird and wonderful medical glossary used by TV doctors, and use images from the most famous American medical shows—'ER,' 'Grey's Anatomy,' 'House,' 'Chicago Med,' 'St. Elsewhere,' and 'Scrubs'—to help illustrate the list. Ready for a diagnosis?

Click through and try to make sense of what's being said in TV's emergency rooms.

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