Things I Appreciate: Words

Medical school has brought an appreciation for words. For example, I can appreciate the word “appreciate.” The word is thrown around so much, almost making it cliché, yet it continues to carry import. Appreciate implies complexity, often an observation without the knowledge of mechanism. The word is a lame attempt to describe something that we can't, a limit. From one word a sentiment of what it is like to be human explodes. At the same time, medicine (and science and any other field) tries to collapse a myriad of descriptors into neat packages. Consider the words “septic shock.” The words provides parameters of different variables that paint a clear picture of Shit. Words like septic shock allow for effective communication, especially when presenting. Things get spicy, though, when words like appreciate and septic shock, that expand and condense coexist: appreciable septic shock: Oh-Shit.