I’ve been thinking about discourse community and what it means to me. I’d like to discuss my occupational experiences working in the medical field. I work at the front desk of a radiology office in a clinic in Brooklyn. I think everyone who works in the medical field belongs to a medical community. In the imagery department, we special code or word to communicate in the building. We all understand how things work. Everyone play a part in helping the patient to get better.
One of the first things I have to do is read or decipher a referral that all patients bring to me. I have to decode many abbreviations that the doctors and medical staff use for many words and diseases. I am sure the general public doesn’t know what these abbreviations and medical terminologies mean. Some examples include; a chest x-ray is usually written as cxr on the referral, and using itis at the end of body part means inflammation or swelling of this organe. There’s so many different kinds of ‘itis’ suffixes, I have to be aware of. There’s bronchitis, tonsillitis, and appendicitis, just to mention a few. Sometimes it’s very difficult for me to know what the doctors and medical staff want because they scribble the information on the paper. Most doctors and physicians assistants have the messiest handwriting. Referrals are considered legal documents so if I make a mistake I can get into trouble.
The medical community shares a type of DC-specific terminology. I have to code the information that is put forth in front of me. This is important because coding helps the office get paid. There are so many different kinds of codes. There’s a code for spine one view, spine entire ap and lat, a cervical < 4 views and the list goes on and on. Plus, all codes have a specific number that coincides with the specific x-ray. It’s easy to make a mistake so I have to focus and concentrate on my work.
I have to work closely with other medical staff members. This includes people in my office or other people in various offices around the borough. I work with people who are cardiologists , allergists, and generalist. Clear communication is essential, sometimes I have to call a doctor’s office because coding mistakes are made on the referrals. A doctor might want a patient to have an x-ray of the right foot for left foot pain. Then, I have to reach out to the medical staff/office to fix the problem.
I believe that everyone working in the medical community or dc has a sense of belonging. whereby there is a sense somethings do not have to said or to be spelt out in detail in either words or writing. (p. 12) We say “code blue” in the x-ray department instead of we have an emergency situation in the x-ray department.
Hello Dorline, that’s very cool, I think I was really hearing my doctors speaking code words. I was taken in for fainting in the MTA, because I needed an X-ray for my head because I fell on my head, but they used code words to communicate with each other. It makes sense what all the abbreviations represented. Well done explaining how the hospitals communications operate.
I fully agree that everyone working in the medical field is apart of the medical community. I think it’s fascinating that you get to help people and work along with radiologists. You’re apart of a community that shows compassion toward others.
Dorline, I understand completely. The military uses many acronyms, some official and some unofficial. The understanding and use of those acronyms in everyday conversation, instantly identifies someone who is, or was, a member of the military community.