Translation of medical specialty

[Roman Ivashkiv]

Hi George,
I'd go for "General Medicine" but "Medical Practice" and "Clinical Medicine" should work as well.
Perhaps, medical practitioners could tell how these terms might be slightly different in Russia and North America, but for a Russian diploma either one should work.
Roman

-----Original Message-----
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list [mailto:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of Paul B. Gallagher
Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2010 11:47 PM
To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Translation of medical specialty

George Hawrysch wrote:

> Appearing on a Russian-issued medical diploma:
> 
>  VRACH po special'nosti "Lechebnoe delo"
> 
> I think this "specialization" (it sounds pretty general) means
> something like "Clinical medicine" or "Medical practice," but
> does anyone know what the standard English should be for
> "Lechebnoe delo"? "General practice," perhaps?

Yes, you're on the right track, but don't try too hard to make too much 
of it.

"Дело" here functions the same way as in "горное дело" or 
"маркшейдерское дело" -- to turn an adjective into a noun denoting a 
field of endeavor, occupation, or business. But unlike "mining" and 
"surveying," we have no field called "healing"; we call it "medicine." 
My three-volume medical encyclopedia doesn't even see fit to list the 
term, either in the index or as a separate article.

A person with this degree is basically a "medical doctor," as opposed to 
a doctor with an additional specialty.

I would also caution you against overinterpreting the false friend 
"специальность," which is not the same as "специализация" (specialty). 
In most cases, "специальность" is just what we would call a "major."

Finally, I would note that Russian medical schools typically have up to 
five "факультеты" -- лечебный, педиатрический, санитарно-гигиенический, 
стоматологический, and фармацевтический. I would be inclined to render 
these as "School of Medicine," "School of Pediatrics," "School of 
Hygiene and Sanitation," "School of Dentistry," and "School of Pharmacy" 
(in a university context, some may prefer "College of..."). Then (При 
этом) a doctor whose degree says "лечебное дело" (as opposed, say, to 
"педиатрика") would be one who graduated from the "School of Medicine," 
which brings us back to the beginning of the discussion.

-- 
War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
--
Paul B. Gallagher
pbg translations, inc.
"Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
http://pbg-translations.com

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