A

Abuse

Abuse is defined as any action that intentionally harms or injures another person.

Accident and Emergency (AE)

A section of an institution that is staffed and equipped to provide rapid and varied emergency care, especially for those who are stricken with sudden and acute illness or who are the victims of severe trauma.

Admission

Hospital practice An episode of in-hospital health care.

Age Discrimination

Discrimination based on age, especially prejudice against the elderly.

Allergy

A condition in which exposure to a substance, such as pollen, latex, animal dander, or a particular food or drug, causes an overreaction by the immune system that results in symptoms such as sneezing, itching, rash, and difficulty breathing or swallowing.

Allied Health Professionals

Professions that provide ancillary medical services and have patient contact which, include clinical psychology, podiatry, dietetics, occupational therapy, orthoptics, physiotherapy, radiography (diagnostic and radiotherapy), speech and language therapy.

Ambulatory care

The services rendered by members of the health professions for the benefit of a patient.

Anesthesia

Artificially induced loss of ability to feel pain, done to permit the performance of surgery or any other painful procedure.

Audiologist

An allied health professional specializing in audiology, who provides services that include evaluation of hearing function

autonomy

The ability to function in an independent fashion.

B

bereavement

Bereavement refers to the period of grief following the death of a beloved person.

C

caregiver

One who contributes the benefits of medical, social, economic, or environmental resources to a dependent or partially dependent individual, such as a critically ill person.

Central Supply Sterile Department (CSSD)

Is an integrated place in hospitals and other health care facilities that performs sterilization and other actions on medical devices, equipment and consumables; for subsequent use by health workers in the operating theatre of the hospital and also for other aseptic procedures, e.g. catheterization, wound stitching and bandaging in a medical, surgical, maternity or paediatric ward

chronic condition / disease

Is a human health condition or disease that is persistent or otherwise long-lasting in its effects or a disease that comes with time. The term chronic is often applied when the course of the disease lasts for more than three months.

clinic

An institution, building, or part of a building where ambulatory patients receive health care.

community health centre

A center with a network of clinics staffed by a group of general practitioners and nurses providing healthcare services to people in a certain area.

Community Health Worker

Are members of a community who are chosen by community members or organizations to provide basic health and medical care to their community capable of providing preventive, promotional and rehabilitation care to these communities.

community-based care / community-based services / programmes

Is a social program design method that enables social service providers, organizers, designers and evaluators to serve specific communities in their own environment.

Contraindication

A factor that prohibits the administration of a drug or the performance of an act or procedure in the care of a specific patient.

D

Dental

The diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the oral cavity.

Dietetics

The practical application of diet in the prophylaxis and treatment of disease.

Disability

Impairment of function to below the maximal level, either physically or mentally.

Dispatch

The sending of someone or something to a distination or for a purpose.

E

Eating disorders

A group of behaviors often fueled by unresolved emotional conflicts symptomized by altered food consumption. Disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating.

Elderly

Individuals over 60 years old

Electrocardiography (ECG)

Is the process of recording the electrical activity of the heart over a period of time using electrodes placed on the skin.

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

Is an electrophysiological monitoring method to record electrical activity of the brain.

Electromyography (EMG)

Technique of recording electrical activity of muscle

ENT

Is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with conditions of the ear, nose, and throat (ENT) and related structures of the head and neck.

Environmental Health

Is that branch of public health that is concerned with all aspects of the natural and built environment that may affect human health.

Episode

A single noteworthy happening in the course of a longer series of events, such as one critical period of several during a prolonged illness.

F

Family Practice

The medical specialty of a family physician, concerned with the planning and provision of comprehensive primary health care, regardless of age or sex, on a continuing basis.

First Aid

Emergency care and treatment of an injured or ill person before complete medical and surgical treatment can be secured.

G

General Practice

The professional activities of (usually) non-specialty-certified physicians who care for a broad range of medical problems.

Geriatric

Is a specialty that focuses on health care of elderly people

H

Handicap

Any physical or mental defect, congenital or acquired, preventing or restricting a person from participating in normal life or limiting their capacity to work.

Hazard (health)

A danger to health resulting from exposure to environmental pollutants, such as asbestos or ionizing radiation, or to a life-style choice, such as cigarette smoking or chemical abuse.

Health Centers

A facility which provides primary care and community based medical services.

Health Promotion

The process of enabling people to increase control over and improve their health; it involves the population as a whole in the context of their everyday lives, rather than focusing on people at risk for specific diseases and is directed toward action on the determinants or causes of health.

Heart Attack

Is the death of, or damage to, part of the heart muscle because the supply of blood to the heart muscle is severely reduced or stopped.

Hematology

The branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the blood and bone marrow.

I

Immunisation

To make immune to a disease, especially by an injection of a weak form of the disease.

immunology 

The branch of biomedical science encompassing the study of the structure and function of the immune system (basic immunology); immunization, organ transplantation, blood banking, and immunopathology

Infectious disease

Due to organisms ranging in size from viruses to parasitic worms; it may be contagious in origin, result from nosocomial organisms, or be due to endogenous microflora from the nose and throat, skin, or bowel.

Inpatient

A patient who comes to a hospital or other health care facility for diagnosis or treatment that requires an overnight stay.

Intensive Care Unit

Is a special department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensive treatment medicine.

L

Limited Private Practice (LPP)

A multispeciality medical clinics located at Salmaniya Medical Complex, which provides private medical services.

M

Maternity

A hospital unit dedicated to the care of pregnant women at the end of gestation, including labour and delivery, and early post natal care for the mother and infant.

Medical

Relating to the science or practice of medicine

Medical Records

A chronologic written account that includes a patient's initial complaint(s) and medical history, physical findings, results of diagnostic tests and procedures, any therapeutic medicines or procedures, and subsequent developments during the course of the illness.

Mental Health

A state of emotional and psychological well-being in which an individual is able to use his or her cognitive and emotional capabilities, function in society, and meet the ordinary demands of everyday life.

Mentally ill people

Is a diagnosis by a mental health professional of a behavioral or mental pattern that may cause suffering or a poor ability to function in life.

Mobile Units

An easily transportable unit designed for use outside a medical department.

N

Nephrology

Is a specialty of medicine and pediatrics that concerns itself with the kidneys: the study of normal kidney function and kidney problems, the preservation of kidney health, and the treatment of kidney problems

Neuroscience

A branch (as neurophysiology) of science that deals with the anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, or molecular biology of nerves and nervous tissue and especially their relation to behavior and learning.

Nutrition

The act or process of nourishing or of being nourished.

O

Obstetrics and Gynecology

Is the medical specialty that deals with the care of female reproductive organs' health and at the management of pregnancy.

Oncology

Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

Opthamology

The branch of health science dealing with the eye, including its anatomy, physiology, pathology, and other aspects.

Orthopedic Section

The section which deals with the correction of injuries or disorders of the skeletal system and associated muscles, joints, and ligaments.

Orthopedics

Orthopedics is the field of medicine concerned with the study and treatment of the musculosketetal system, particularly the spine, joints, and muscles.

Orthotics

The science that deals with the use of specialized mechanical devices to support or supplement weakened or abnormal joints or limbs.

P

Pathology

The branch of medicine treating of the essential nature of disease, especially of the changes in body tissues and organs that cause or are caused by disease.

Pediatric

Pediatrics (also spelled paediatrics or pædiatrics) is the branch of medicine that deals with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents, and the age limit usually ranges from birth up to 18-21 years of age

Pharmcy

A place where medical drugs are prepared, dispensed, or sold

Physician

An authorized practitioner of medicine, as one graduated from a college of medicine and licensed by the appropriate board

Physiotherapy

The treatment of disease injury or deformaty by physical methods such as massage, heat treatment and exercise rather by than drugs or surgery.

Preventive Care

The care that is concerned with the prevention of disease and methods for increasing the power of the patient and community to resist disease and prolong life.

Primary healthcare

Is the term for the health care services which play a role in the local community. It refers to the work of health care professionals who act as a first point of consultation for all patients within the health care system

Prosthetics

The branch of medicine or surgery that deals with the production and application of artificial body parts.

Psychiatric Hospital

A health care facility providing inpatient and outpatient therapeutic services to clients with behavioral or emotional illnesses.

R

Radiology

The branch of medicine that deals with diagnostic images of anatomic structures made through the use of electromagnetic radiation or sound waves and that treats disease through the use of radioactive compounds.

Rehabilitation

Is a treatment or treatments designed to facilitate the process of recovery from injury, illness, or disease to as normal a condition as possible.

Respiratory

Relating to, or affecting respiration or the organs used in respiration

S

School Health

An integrated set of planned, sequential, school-affiliated strategies, activities, and services designed to promote the optimal physical, emotional, social, and educational development of students.

Screening

A strategy used in a population to identify an unrecognised disease in individuals without signs or symptoms

Secondary healthcare

Is the health care services provided by medical specialists and other health professionals who generally do not have first contact with patients, for example, cardiologists, urologists and dermatologists.

Side-Effect

A side effect is an effect, whether therapeutic or adverse, that is secondary to the one intended

Social Worker

A professional trained in the treatment of psychosocial problems of patients and their families.

Speech Therapist

A health professional trained to evaluate and treat voice, speech, language, or swallowing disorders

Surgical

Pertaining to, or correctable by surgery

symptom

Any morbid phenomenon or departure from the normal in structure, function, or sensation, experienced by the patient and indicative of disease.

T

Tertiary healthcare

Is specialized consultative health care, usually for inpatients and on referral from a primary or secondary health professional

Thyroid

The largest of the endocrine gland. The thyroid gland is located in the front and sides of the neck just below the thyroid cartilage and produces hormones that are vital in maintaining normal growth and metabolism.

V

vital signs

Determination of temperature, pulse rate, rate of breathing, and level of blood pressure.