(no subject)

[telophase]

Quick vocab check: would a plastic surgeon (specializing in beauty procedures, rather than reconstruction after accidents, or some such) have patients or clients? (If you wanted to get technical, the person using the word is actually a lawyer.)

Context: that novel I'm editing for the Digital Manga Guild, so can't give you any more. :D

Comments

[trouble]

In my experience working for doctors, what the offices call people depends on preference. It's not universal. I wouldn't actually be surprised to hear that a plastic surgeon referred to patients as "guests".

[lady_ganesh]

The one plastic surgeon I knew had a background in fixing cleft palate and the like and basically now did boobs and such as a retirement job. He used 'patients' but he, of course, came from a slightly different background.

[his-spiffyness.livejournal.com]

I would assume "patient" would be the correct term regardless of the nature of the procedure.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

[espion.livejournal.com]

I would definitely say patient. Only tv docs or Dr. Nick* have clients. Depends on how unscrupulous the character is...

* "And the best part is when he gave me his money!" :p

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Well, he's not especially caring about his patients!

[riofriotex.livejournal.com]

If it's a lawyer saying it, seems like you could get by with either - they call their own clients clients but might call any doctor's patients.

My personal opinion - if insurance covers the procedure, you're a patient, if not, you're a client. :)

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I might end up with the lawyer saying "clients" but the surgeon himself saying "patients." My second pass through the book is going to be aimed in part at detail like that, making sure the stuff from the surgeon's POV tends to use medical-ish terms, the lawyer's POV uses legal-sounding terms, and so on.