Disc or Disk

• Spinal disc or disk? I see it both ways. nm - MT
  • Completely up to the client - but standard is disk
  • you probably need to ask what the account wants on that one. - anon
    • opps - that's if they say...(fingers numb) NM - anon
  • Disc is in CD (read the label). Disk as in body part. nm - If you ask me
  • Back in the day, disk was for eye, disc was for spine, - LA
  • I work for a chiropractor and he likes disc. - nm
  • this is what I was told over the years. - mtme3
  • I don't know what BOS says, but my company says - me
  • Disc or Disk - Old School

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I don't know who wrote this, but I found it online long ago.  Since I was told I was spelling "disc" wrong by other MTs (never by a doctor), I decided to research this matter and found this at http://www.stedmans.com/MTFeaturePrint.cfm/1324.

disc vs disk

 a 4-letter word

To what extent should one research the spelling of a word when there is more than one way to spell it? I suppose the answer would depend on a number of things, not the least of which is how much time one has to invest in word research. Productivity and therefore one’s pay suffers when ears, hands, and feet leave their transcription mode for any period of time.

If the word in question is a mere 4-letter word, it seems reasonable to believe that any one of respected resources would provide an appropriate spelling, so why bother with much research. Let’s face it, four-letter-word vocabularies are usually subject to more creative spellings than misspellings. However, because I was working on a special project, I decided to put to rest, once and for all time, the correct spelling of disc/disk as used in surgical dictation for a lumbar discectomy/diskectomy. Four hours and several resources later, I was sure I had my answer.

Au contraire.

I began my search in Stedman’s Medical 27^th Edition. It is after all my medical dictionary of choice. Clearly the preference for disc/disk when referring to the spine is “disc.” I disagreed. My preferred spelling was “disk” for all things spinal, so I checked the AMA Manual Style. To my delight, they agreed with me. In fact, it clearly states that one should use “disc” for ophthalmologic terms and “disk” for the remainder of the anatomy.

Dr. Dirckx, noted medical language expert, explained disc/disk it in an article that appears in the January 2002 issue of JAAMT. His article begins, “As you have no doubt discovered, reference works show a striking lack of consistency in the spelling of this term.” Amen to that!

I almost always use Vera Pyle’s book for confirmation, she being the all-time guru and grande dame of medical vocabulary. I couldn’t believe my eyes. She directs that one use “disk” when transcribing ophthalmologic dictation and “disc” for the remainder of the anatomy.

All right, the gloves came off. Next stop, the revered AAMT Book of Style. “We recommend the spelling disk for all anatomic and surgical references …” I was satisfied and feeling pretty smug, so I declared the victory to a member of Stedman’s staff and suggested that the Stedman’s Dictionary team look into changing “disc” preference to “disk” in their new edition.

It is a good feeling to be right, and I was feeling real good. That is, until the S27 research team took my suggestion and consulted the world experts in medical terminology. Who are they? “They” are the Federative International Committee on Anatomical Terminology, and “they” are the final word. Chairman Ian Whitmore states that Latin is the basis for the world's official terminology as found in Terminologia Anatomica (TA). Want to know more about TA? It is explained in S27 and makes interesting reading.

And just what do the world experts say about disk/disc? Disc is in for all things medical; disk is out. Why? Because Latin terms have official status and, though the origin of the word is from the Greek term “diskos, the Latin derivation is “discus.”

So, my fellow word junkies, if you have always used “disk” as your preferred spelling in all things anatomical, today is the day to change because “disc” is correct in the eyes of the world.

NM

Thanks

from it's owner to transfer the voice files from the handheld to the computer. 

I have company issued computer with IT.  I would like to know if I could move IT to a CD or disk so that I can put it on my personal computer.  I have greatly expanded the glossary to cover my area of expertise over the last one year and do not want to lose this.  In fact, I think I would break down and cry if I did.  Plus, am thinking of taking on a PT job and would like to utilize this IT on my other computer.

Thank you.

For copyright protection, IT restricts itself from being able to be copied onto a disk and installed onto another computer. The only way to install it is to use the installation disk.

The glossaries, however, can be backed up onto a seperate disk, just not the actual program itself.

Technically, the hospital owns the license so installing it on a personal computer would violate the license agreement. If you would like to have it on your own computer, it is recommended to purchase your own copy so you don't have to worry about anything with the license agreement.

task bar and also the page that opens a new document and the print preview page.  There are probably more missing.  How do I get them back?

thx so much

I have a CD that I am supposed to transcribe.  It came to me in as a .cda format, and it won't play whatsoever.  Not on my laptop, not on my CD player, nothing.  I see online that there are ways to convert the cda to an mp3, but I'm not sure which are hoaxes/bogus and which are for real.

Does anyone know how to do a conversion of cda to mp3?  Please help.  Thanks so much

I bought a DS4000 digital recorder brand new on ebay last year. I just got a new account who is interested in going digital and when I opened it up the disk is cracked. I have the license number to register the software I just need a copy of the software. If anyone can copy or send the original and I will return the next day please email me at bsptss at aol dot com, I'll gladly pay any associated costs.

Thanks

Barbara 

Not sure what folder I can find them on my computer.

A lot of times it will list files for removal that really shouldn't be removed - I would rather err on the side of caution and remove things myself.

But that's just me.