2023-11-13 15:02:00
“The image highlights a digital medical consultation where innovative technology is used to offer personalized medical care. Medical care evolves with digital solutions for a more efficient patient experience. (Illustrative image Infobae
This Monday, something that will mark a milestone for the Spanish-speaking medical community and will spread its benefits to the entire society, both in the Americas and in Spain, was presented in Madrid: The first Pan-Hispanic Dictionary of Medical Terms (DPTM) was presented. The work, which is now available online, reflects the collaboration and joint effort of the Royal National Academy of Medicine of Spain (RANME) and the Latin American Association of National Academies of Medicine, Spain and Portugal (ALANAM).
The DPTM is a monumental work comprising more than 70,000 medical terms, along with their American English equivalents. Establishes a standard of normalization for the language of health throughout the Spanish-speaking community, with the objective of promoting unity in the midst of diversity and facilitating accurate communication between specialists and patients, avoiding misunderstandings and the dissemination of false news referring to the health.
The dictionary, which aims to be a common consultation for professionals in Spanish-speaking America and Spain, also provides observations and recommendations on the use of terms, warnings regarding frequent confusion, spelling, phonetic and grammatical rules and additional information.
An example of the importance of this enormous work that took more than a decade was marked by the message from the King of Spain, Felipe VI, and the presence, during the presentation, of representatives of the Academies of Medicine from 12 Latin American countries: Argentina, Bolivia , Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela. This meeting celebrated the culmination of a collective project, the result of a long-standing coordinated effort to maintain and enrich linguistic heritage as a vehicle for the transmission of medical knowledge in the Spanish-speaking world.
It is a diatopic dictionary – which contains linguistic differences according to the geographical area of the speakers – since “it provides detailed descriptions of diseases and their terminology that varies in each country”
Representing Argentina at the Madrid event were the President of the National Academy of Medicine, Dr. Juan Antonio Mazzei, and the former president of the entity, Dr. Manuel L. Martí, who actively worked on the preparation of the dictionary.
Dr. Mazzei, a pulmonologist and former director of the Hospital de Clínicas of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), told Infobae regarding the origin and importance of this enormous initiative. The idea, he highlighted, arose from the Spanish Royal Academy of Medicine and began in 2012. “In that year, a crucial meeting was held in Madrid” in which representatives of that scientific entity from Spain and the academies of the countries of Hispanic America mentioned above, “with the support of the Portuguese Academy of Medicine,” he said. It was then that a protocol was established for the development of this project.
This work came to respond “to a need in Spanish-speaking society, especially health professionals. It simplifies the work by offering a common reference, since not all diseases in Latin America and Spain have the same name. That is, a condition can be called differently in different countries,” explained the Argentine doctor. For example, he said, the disease that in Argentina is known as whooping cough, in other regions of the continent is called whooping cough.
“It is important to recognize that in each country the specific names described in the dictionary will be used. This is especially relevant in a world where patients may consult in different countries due to air travel. It is essential to know the names of the diseases in each place,” stressed Dr. Mazzei.
The linguists who undertook the titanic task of unifying medical words in one volume traveled to each country to coordinate the tasks and compile the terms (Illustrative Image Infobae)
That is to say, he added, that it is a diatopic dictionary – which contains linguistic differences according to the geographical area of the speakers – since “it provides detailed descriptions of diseases and their terminology that varies in each country. It also includes the English name and the International Code of Diseases in English, which is essential for the issuance of legal certificates,” while “paying special attention to the spelling and grammar of each term, as there are around 70,000 terms in this dictionary.
The work will be available online through a free application, he revealed, and can be accessed by both health professionals and anyone interested in the medical topic. The initiative was funded by the Royal Academy of Medicine of Spain and, although it culminated in the presentation and opening to the public today, it will be permanently updated.
What were the main difficulties that linguists faced when creating this compendium? Infobae asked Dr. Mazzei: “There were three main challenges. Firstly, the (medical) academics had to invest time in the project. Secondly, it had to be guaranteed that the language and spelling were consistent with the Royal Spanish Academy, that is, the spelling had to conform to the rules of Spanish, avoiding the incorrect use of capital letters and verbal conjugations, for example, taking into account the differences in the medical languages of Latin America and, thirdly, a compatibility of the definitions of the diseases had to be achieved,” he said.
This work came to respond “to a need in Spanish-speaking society, especially health professionals” (Illustrative Image Infobae)
The linguists who undertook the titanic task of unifying medical words in one volume traveled to each country to coordinate the tasks and compile the terms. In Argentina, Mazzei said, it was Dr. Martí, former president of the National Academy of Medicine, who led the work on behalf of the country.
For the resource to be useful, from the National Academy of Medicine, “we are committed to disseminating this dictionary, both among medical societies and among the doctors who follow us and the general public who have an interest in medical terminology and the definition of diseases. We believe that this will have a great impact and will be a turning point in the relations between the academies and the medical community,” he assured.
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