The Secret Language of Doctors

Cracking the Code of Hospital Slang

  • Language:
    Publisher:
  • English (Canada)
    HarperCollins
  • English (United States)
    Triumph Books
About The Secret Language of Doctors:

Have you ever wondered what doctors and nurses are really saying as they zip through the emergency room and onto elevators, throwing cryptic phrases at one another? Or why they do it? Do you guess at the codes broadcast over the loudspeaker, or the words doctors and nurses use when speaking right in front of patients?

In The Secret Language of Doctors, bestselling author Dr. Brian Goldman opens up the book on the clandestine phrases doctors use to describe patients, situations and even colleagues they detest. He tells us what it means for someone to suffer from incarceritis, what doctors mean when they block and turf, what the various codes mean, and why you never want to suffer a horrendoma. Highly accessible, biting, funny and entertaining, The Secret Language of Doctors reveals modern medical culture at its best and all too often at its worst.


Critical Praise:

"The Secret Language of Doctors takes us behind the curtain and, in doing so, reveals fascinating insight on the practice of medicine, warts and all."

André Picard, Health Columnist, The Globe and Mail


About the Author(s):

Dr. Brian Goldman is a highly regarded emergency physician and an award-winning medical journalist. He is the host of the CBC radio program White Coat, Black Art.


Other Editions:
  • English (Canadian Paperback)

  • English (U.S. Paperback)


Other Books by Dr. Brian Goldman:
  • The Night Shift

  • The Power of Kindness

  • The Power of Teamwork