I've been in enough ER's and doc offices as patient, advocate, spouse, lay minister, and helper of deef/old/dementia'd folks (not to mention stroke and/or intoxicated, suicidal, flashbacking, recent shock therapy folks.... to pick up quite a lot of medical language (I have a gift for languages not medicine). I try to use it seldom but have seen boundaries go cattywampus when I suddenly sound like a consulting medico.... and I can give a damn concise and detailed history (mine or others'), in my sleep.

These are not good skills to carry around everyday. As a nursing home patient I had to work hard not to be mistakenly treated as a professional on my own healthcare team-- and remain insistently in patient mode.

~Susan