Pune: To make it easy for the doctors to explain medical terms to their patients, the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) has signed an MoU with Marathi Vishwakosh Nirmitee Mandal to add Marathi medical terms to it.
While good communication is one of the most essential requirements for being a doctor, the dictionary would certainly help them in interacting better with their patients.
“The doctors learn everything in English. All medical terms are in English since most of the scientific names have Latin origins. Hence, it is very difficult for the doctors to explain to their patients what has happened to them and what is the cause. Instead, If they could find the right words for these terms in Marathi, it would help in establishing a better doctor-patient rapport,” MUHS Registrar Dr KD Chavan said.
“The instances of doctors being attacked in the State are increasing and one of the most disturbing reasons for that is the lack of efficient communication. Hence, this dictionary would prove to be of utmost importance. It would be handy for the doctors to use the dictionary while serving in any part of the State,” Chavan added.
He also said that while most of the medical terms in English are difficult to understand even for those who speak English, the Marathi words introduced in their place would be much simpler to understand.
“Our goal is to facilitate communication. So without a doubt, we would try to put the medical terms in most simple and comprehensible Marathi words,” Chavan said. For instance, antibiotics could easily be understood as ‘prati jaiva’ in Marathi, or anaemia as ‘rakta nashak pandurog’.
The work of updating the Marathi Vishwakosh is started. “It will be an ongoing process. The students, as well as doctors, would be able to use it as we continue to add more and newer words,” Chavan said.
