Speaking the same language in health professions education

A common understanding of the terms used in the field is very important, especially in the field of science. In health professions education, the inadvertent use of terms in inappropriate context can lead to deleterious effects. The use of wrongly conveyed terms in planning, teaching-learning activity, or evaluation can cause ambiguity, confusion, and misinterpretation. Reform in any field gets initiated and progress only if the shared knowledge is well defined. In health professions education, many terms are been loosely used without realizing the impact it could cause to the field. The paper is intended to unravel some of the commonly misused and misinterpreted terms. The collection of terms presented in the paper is based on extensive experience and encounters in various educational settings rather than what is documented in the literature.