The necessary revision of plastic surgical terminology in Korea.

Hwang, Kun; Park, Sang Hyun; Lee, Se Il; Lee, Yoon Ho; Baik, Sang Ho

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons 1998;25(2):169-177.
Published online February 1, 1998.

The necessary revision of plastic surgical terminology in Korea.

Kun Hwang, Sang Hyun Park, Se Il Lee, Yoon Ho Lee, Sang Ho Baik

¹Dept. of Plastic Surgery, College of Medicine, Inha University, Korea.
²Dept. of Plastic Surgery, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Korea.
³Dept. of Anatomy, College of Medicine, Seoul national University, Korea.

Abstract

Majority of the medical terminology we are using in Korea originated primarily from the Japanese based on the Chinese characters. Even though we are sharing the common Chinese characters there are significant differences in pronounciation and meaning which may create tremendeous confusion in medical terminology particuIary in plastic surgery field if one simply adapting other country's teminology without proper screening and refining process, which might encourage medical practitioner to use English in their daily clinical activity. The authors carried out a review of the medical terminology in the field of plastic surgery particularly based on clinical applicability. We have listed problems caused by simple adaptation of foreign medical terminology not only in conversational but also in written terminology with its a critique as a viewpoint of native speaker. We have discussed the justification that we have to review the medical terminology to improve our Korean scientific words in plastic surgery. We have also proposed the general direction and principles in revising medical terminology more systematically in order to get an effective results. Finally we have listed several examples to correct the terms which have widely been used erroneously in plastic surgery.

Keywords: Medical term; Plastic surgery; Korean