Glossary

Medicine: Any drug or remedy. The treatment of disease by non-surgical means.

General Surgery: The branch of medicine that treats diseases, injuries and deformities by manual or operative methods.

Orthopaedics: The branch of surgery which is specially concerned with the preservation and restoration of the function of the skeletal system, its articulations, and associated structures.

Psychiatry: The branch of medicine which deals with the study, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders.

Gynaecology: The branch of medicine that treats the diseases of the genital tract in women.

Obstetrics: The branch of surgery which deals with the management of pregnancy, labour, and the puerperium.

Paediatrics: The branch of medicine which treats of the child and its development and care and of the disease of children and their treatment. .

Intensive and Coronary care: Of great force or intensity. A term applied to vessels, nerves, ligaments etc. The term usually denotes the arteries that supply the heart muscle.

Assessment and Rehabilitation: An evaluation or appraisal. The restoration of normal form and function after injury or illness.

Accident and Emergency: An unforeseen occurrence, especially one of an injurious character. An unlooked for or sudden occasion; an accident; an urgent or pressing need.

Pathology: The branch of medicine which treats of the essential nature of disease, especially of the structural and functional changes in tissues and organs of the body that cause or are caused by disease.

Radiology: The branch of the health sciences dealing with radioactive substances and radiant energy and with the diagnosis and treatment of disease by means of both ionizing (e.g. x-rays) and nonionizing (e.g. ultrasound) radiations.

Gerontology: The scientific study of the problems of aging in all their aspects – clinical, biologic, historical, and sociologic.

Dietary: A regular or systematic scheme of diet.

Physiotherapy: Physical therapy.

Orthotics: The field of knowledge relating to orthoses and their use.

Occupational Therapy: The use of adaptive, work, and play activities to increase independent function, enhance development, and prevent disability; the task or the environment may be adapted to achieve maximum independence and to enhance the quality of life

Audiology: the science of hearing, particularly diagnostic testing and the study of impaired hearing that cannot be improved by medication or surgical therapy.

Social Work: Any of various services designed to aid the poor and aged and to increase the welfare of children.

Domiciliary care: Care provided in a hospital or other licensed facility because care in the individual's home is not available or is unsuitable.