An advanced form of CPR using both mechanical and pharmaceutical interventions.

A disease or state of being for which there is a good chance of full recovery; usually an illness or condition of short duration.

The individual or financial institution appointed to oversee the estate of a person dying without a valid will or if no executor or personal representative is named. Also referred to as an administratrix.

A document that combines both the Living Will directives and Health Care Proxy selection into a single document.

Individual or individuals named to make your financial and business decisions under a Power of Attorney. Also called an attorney-in-fact.

Donation of tissue for someone else.

Refers to nontraditional methods of diagnosing, preventing, or treating disease.

Interventions that stabilize heart rate and rhythm.

Drugs that were originally designed to fight infections. They may be administered by mouth (PO), vein (IV), or feeding tube.

Drugs, such as Heparin or Coumadin, that thin the blood.

Interventions that reduce swelling by stopping allergic reactions.

Interventions that lower blood pressure.

Interventions that increase blood pressure.

A heart having potentially dangerous abnormal beats.

Nutrition and hydration provided to a person who cannot eat or drink on his or her own.

Donation of tissue for oneself.

The person who benefits from an estate, trust, insurance policy, or other asset.

A form that allows you to select a particular beneficiary to receive the proceeds from an insurance policy, retirement account, or other asset.

A small or specific gift made to an individual or charity in a will or trust, usually a dollar amount or specific item; also referred to as a devise.

A board-eligible subspecialist who has passed his or her respective specialty board.

A board-eligible specialist who has passed his or her respective specialty board.

A physician specialist who has completed his or her residency and is eligible to sit for the respective specialty board. If the physician specialist does not pass the specialty board within a set time frame after completing the residency, board eligibility will be lost, and the physician will be considered a non-board-eligible physician specialist.

A physician subspecialist is a board-certified specialist in the specialty governing his or her subspecialty who has completed his or her fellowship and passed the necessary board examination within the required time frame.

Part of the brain that governs basic bodily functions and reacts to the environment.

Interventions that make the airway expand.

A combination of rescue breathing and chest compressions delivered to patients when their heart is thought to stop beating (that is, cardiac arrest).

A line placed in one of the large veins in the chest.

Back part of the brain that governs physical coordination of movement.

Part of the brain that controls personality, language skills, vision, memory, actual physical movements, and more.

A disease or state of being for which there is likely no cure but that is not expected to cause death for at least six months or more.

The movement of fluid throughout the veins, arteries, and lymph system.

A research physician most likely associated with a university, institutional review board, or pharmaceutical company, who performs clinical trials with new drug agents, devices, or protocols.

Unconscious with no response to the external environment.

Including a provision in a will or trust in the event that all your primary beneficiaries perish in a common disaster or prior to the decedent.

Property owned by a husband and wife in a community property state.

Refers to nontraditional methods of diagnosing, preventing, or treating disease.

Machine-operated pressure devices that help increase blood pressure and avoid clots.

The incapacitated person whose affairs are managed by a conservator.

The individual appointed by a court to manage the affairs of an incapacitated person.

Using a machine to force oxygen through a tube in your airway into areas of the lungs being underutilized.

Recuperative processes of the body after an illness or injury.

The principal of a trust.

Higher brain function.

An individual who has died.

Interventions that stop the production of mucus.

A process in which an electronic device gives an electric shock to the heart to reestablish normal contraction rhythms in a heart having dangerous abnormal beats (that is, arrhythmia) or in cardiac arrest.

Short duration episode of acute mental disturbance characterized by confused thinking and disrupted attention.

State of violent delirium induced by excessive and prolonged alcohol use.

Deteriorated cognitive function, often with emotional indifference.

A small or specific gift made to an individual or charity in a will or trust, usually a dollar amount or specific item; also referred to as a bequest.

An individual with a medical degree, Ph.D., or other doctoral degree. Sometimes used to specify a physician with a medical degree only.

Putting a tube into the mouth or nose of a person who cannot breathe on his or her own and having a machine (or it may be done manually) breathe for the person.

An intervention method that helps patients receive hydration and nutrition.

Property that passes to the state on death as a result of dying intestate and having no living relatives at the time of death.

All property and assets owned by an individual at death.

The process of settling the estate of a deceased person.

The process of ordering one’s legal affairs to ensure the distribution of one’s property and assets as one wants and wishes.

An active or passive act by an individual to end the life of another who is injured or horribly ill.

The individual or financial institution that carries out the provisions of a will. Also referred to as an executrix or personal representative.

A basic research physician most likely associated with a university, pharmaceutical company, or government agency.

Mask that delivers pure oxygen into your nose and mouth.

An individual or financial institution acting for the benefit of an estate, trust, or person. Includes executor, trustee, administrator, and guardian.

The legal obligation of a fiduciary to act with trust and good faith.

A feeding tube that goes into the stomach (gastric) or first (duodenal) or second (jejunal) part of the small intestine.

The genetic code of a living being.

Interventions that stop allergic reactions.

An individual granted the power to take care of the person and property of a minor or incapacitated person.

A special guardian appointed by a court to protect the interests of a minor or incapacitated individual during a court action.

A legal document that appoints an individual, your health care representative, to make your medical decisions for you if you are unable. Also called a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care, Medical Power of Attorney, and Advance Directive for Health Care-Proxy Directive.

Individual named to make your health care and medical decisions under a Health Care Proxy.

Totality of information about health identity, health accounting, health registries, health research, health records, and health treatments as applied to any individual.

Removing waste products from patients’ blood when their kidneys aren’t functioning.

Using a face mask, nasal prongs, or cannulas to force oxygen into areas of the lungs being underutilized.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.

A letter you write requesting your attorney to hold your original Power of Attorney documents until he or she is satisfied that you are incapacitated.

A signed will written entirely in the handwriting of the person making the will that isn’t witnessed or notarized.

Prevention of disease and preservation of health.

Requirement that you be told all aspects of a clinical trial or medical intervention, good and bad, and that your agreement to participate voluntarily be obtained in writing.

A business managing physician who runs an office practice, hospital staff, or other group of practicing physicians.

Property which cannot be touched but has value; for example, stocks, bonds, securities, business interests, and money.

Dying without a valid will.

Interventions that place a tube in the mouth or nose to keep the airway open.

A legal document that can’t be changed or revoked.

All individuals born of a common ancestor. Your children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren (and so on) are your issue. Also referred to as descendants.

Ownership of an undivided interest in a whole asset that automatically passes on the death of a joint tenant to the other surviving joint tenants.

A medical doctor who has completed one internship year, passed a state medical licensure board, and doesn’t have criminal convictions in any state. A licensed physician without further training in residency, or before he or she completes residency training, may be referred to as a general practitioner.

A nurse who has completed a one- to two-year training program.

A legal document that outlines your wishes regarding your medical care at the end of life. Also called an Advance Directive for Health Care—Instruction Directive, Medical Directive, or Directive for Physicians.

A medical school graduate who may or may not be qualified by a state, hospital, or with a given specialty or subspecialty. Also called a physician.

Medical diagnoses and subsequent treatment of disease.

The spread of disease from the origination point of the disease to another part of the body.

Altered consciousness with erratic, inconsistent responsiveness.

Very strong painkillers, such as morphine.

The small tube that is inserted in your nostrils. This delivers the smallest amount of oxygen.

A feeding tube inserted through the nose and passed into the stomach.

Loss of whole brain function.

Nonsteroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including ibuprofen, aspirin, and acetaminophen.

A business-managing physician for health payers who is most likely associated with an insurance company, medical product development company, or government agency.

A registered nurse with advanced training in a particular medical specialty.

Process by which the body assimilates and uses food for energy and growth.

Intervention that evaluates the nose and throat to find out what’s blocking the airway.

The end result of treatment, which can be either positive or negative.

A structure that encloses a patient in bed and provides an oxygen-rich environment.

A device that keeps the heart beating regularly.

The treatment of pain.

Draining the abdomen to relieve pressure.

A designation on a bank or brokerage account or other asset that provides that the asset passes to the named POD individual on the owner’s death.

A feeding tube placed using a scope passed into the stomach and a hole cut through the stomach wall and external abdominal skin.

Division of an estate among a single branch of the family tree, share and share alike. If you leave your estate to your children per capita and one of your children has already died, that child’s share will be split among your living children.

Creating a site to allow the heart sack draining to take place.

The draining of fluid from the heart sack to allow the heart to beat.

Division of an estate among all branches of a family tree. If you leave your estate to your children per stirpes and one of your children has already died, that child’s share will pass to his or her children. Also referred to as by representation.

Unconscious with eyes open and little response to the external environment.

The individual appointed by a court to administer an estate; also called an executor or administrator.

A medical doctor who has graduated from medical school or osteopathic school.

A medical practitioner who works under the direct supervision of a doctor.

Situation in which a doctor enables a terminally ill patient to take his or her own life.

A board-eligible specialist who chooses to apply and is accepted for a particular subset of study within a given specialty. Fellowships can last from one to four years. For example, internal medicine fellowships include, but are not limited to, cardiology, pulmonology, medical oncology, endocrinology, rheumatology, gastroenterology, hematology, and infectious disease.

A medical doctor in the first year of a one-year accredited residency training program such as internal medicine, general surgery, or family practice.

A physician who has completed his or her residency program in a given area such as internal medicine, general surgery, pediatrics, family practice, and obstetrics and gynecology, for example.

A physician who has completed his or her fellowship program.

A peripherally inserted center catheter placed into a large arm vein.

An implanted device that prevents multiple needle sticks in more painful areas of the body.

Power granted to a trust beneficiary to appoint the remaining trust assets to another on the death of the trust beneficiary.

A diagnosing or treating physician who sees patients regularly in an outpatient or inpatient setting.

Individual signing a Power of Attorney, Health Care Proxy, or Living Will.

Establishing the validity and authenticity of a Last Will and Testament before a judicial authority.

Dividing based on percentage interest rather than equally.

Basic derangement of the mind, including hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech and behavior, and defective or lost contact with reality.

A process by which subjects in a clinical trial are assigned in no particular order to receive one of the treatments being studied.

Land and everything located on the land.

A nurse who has completed a two- to four-year degree in nursing.

An academically oriented physician involved with organizing basic research results, reimbursement policies, or clinical research to set best-practice guidelines for institutional and practicing physicians and providing organized feedback to experimental, numerical, and clinical research physicians.

Pain medication to help patients feel more relaxed.

Value of a trust at the end of its term or at the death of a life or income beneficiary.

A licensed physician or a foreign medical graduate (FMG) of a non-U.S. medical school who is in a residency program for a particular medical specialty. FMGs may receive their state medical license to become a licensed physician after completing a three-year residency, which includes a one-year internship, and passing a state medical licensure board, provided he or she doesn’t have criminal convictions in any state.

The administration of extra oxygen through various mechanisms such as high-flow oxygen therapy (oxygen given by face mask or nasal prongs or cannulas), continuous positive airways pressure (forcing oxygen into areas of the lungs being underutilized), endotracheal intubation and ventilation (putting a tube into the mouth or nose of a person who cannot breathe on his or her own and having a machine breathe for the person), or a tracheotomy (a surgical incision in the windpipe).

A legal document that can be changed, amended, or cancelled.

A tax-deferred education savings plan.

Pain medication to help a patient sleep.

An unintended consequence of a drug, treatment, or procedure.

Term used to discuss the severity of the progression of a disease.

A health condition exists, but not all of the symptoms are evident.

The taking of one’s own life intentionally and voluntarily.

A bond insuring the performance of an executor, administrator, trustee, or other fiduciary.

Any invasive procedure or operation, especially one involving the removal or replacement of a diseased organ or tissue. Surgery may be minimal (such as the placement of a central line for IV access), major (such as open heart surgery), or somewhere in between.

Property which you can touch and feel; for example, a car, jewelry, photographs, and sterling silver.

Feeding and fluids delivered directly to the gastrointestinal tract.

Joint ownership of property with a right of survivorship that is only between a husband and wife.

Property ownership with other individuals that may or may not be equal, with the share of a co-tenant passing on his or her death pursuant to his or her will or by the laws of intestacy.

A disease or state of being that is expected to end one’s life within six months; also referred to as end-stage.

Dying with a valid will.

Individual who leaves a valid will at the time of his or her death.

Feeding and fluids delivered by IV.

An intervention that cuts a hole in the front of the neck to insert a tube directly into the airway.

A legal entity that holds property for another person’s benefit (the beneficiary). An inter vivos trust is established during life. A testamentary trust is established at death.

The individual or financial institution that administers a trust.

Accounts opened in the name of a minor that become available to the minor at the age of majority.

The mechanical device that assists a patient to breathe by mechanically forcing oxygen into the lungs; also called artificial respiration.

A minor or incapacitated person under the care of a guardian.

A legal instrument in which a person disposes of property at death.