Medical student's evaluation about use of eponyms in medical practice
Fleury Marinho da SILVA, Rodolfo Costa SYLVESTRE, José Guilherme Pinheiro PIRES
Original title: Avaliação dos estudantes de medicina sobre o uso de epônimos na prática médica
Published in
Keywords: Eponyms, Medical Education, Terminology.
Eponym is a terminology created from a person’s name for naming syndromes, signs or diseases. Several authors argue against the use of eponyms, yet some support their use. Our objective is to evaluate the opinion of medical students about the use of eponyms in medical practice. A qualitative research was done with students from 3rd to 5th year of a southeastern Brazilian medical school, through the application of a questionnaire, interview recording, and transcript of the answers. The qualitative analysis was done using the evocations of the subjects under study. The majority of the students was against the use of these nomenclatures, both in medical practice and in basic training. The students argued the difficulty for memorizing the names and obstacles in communication when using the eponyms. However, they also remember that the use of eponyms is frequently a tribute to the first physicians in history and its use is already common in the academic and professional environments. A major debate among medical educational institutions and students should be considered for probable adjustments of the difficulties that students have faced in their undergraduate period concerning the use of eponyms.
The Use of Eponyms in Medical Practice
Fleury Marinho da SILVA, Rodolfo Costa SYLVESTRE, José Guilherme Pinheiro PIRES
Original title: O Uso de Epônimos na Prática Médica
Published in
Keywords: Eponyms, Medical Education, Medical Humanities, Terminology.
An eponym is a medical term derived from a person’s name, either real or fictitious. Several authors that stand against the use of eponyms in Biology or Medicine argue that the practice is anti-didactic because it is impossible to memorize over ten thousand existing eponyms, the same eponym may designate two different biomedical entities, or the eponyms can render tribute to infamous physicians. However, there are authors who support their use and describe that its practice is a medical art, reflecting the medical history over the years. For them, the use of eponyms is a correct attitude of recognition and a deserved tribute to those who contributed with their observation and research for developing the medical sciences.
