Nominalisation in Formal Medical Writing

• In formal medical writing, we often transform verbs and adjectives into nouns. This process, called nominalisation, helps us sound more objective, concise, and academic. It shifts the focus from the actions of the healthcare providers to the clinical facts themselves.
• Verb / Adjective
• Noun
• Informal Example
• Formal Nominalised Example
• decide
• decision
• We decided to operate immediately.
• The decision to operate immediately was made by the team in Chicago.
• available
• availability
• The drug was not available, which delayed treatment.
• The unavailability of the drug delayed treatment at the Boston hospital.
• present
• presentation
• The patient presented with chest pain.
• The clinical presentation of chest pain prompted further tests.
• comply
• compliance
• The patient did not comply with the therapy.
• Poor compliance with the therapy led to a relapse.
• assess
• assessment
• The team assessed the patient thoroughly.
• A thorough assessment of the patient was performed in London.
• Remember
• Nominalisation replaces active verbs with noun phrases, often requiring a passive verb or a formal verb like 'perform' or 'conduct'.
• It allows you to pack more information into a single sentence, which is highly valued in medical journals.
• Adjectives describing clinical states (e.g., 'severe', 'available') often become nouns ('severity', 'availability') to establish objective measures.
• Examples
• Original: We analyzed the data from the London clinic. -> Nominalised: An analysis of the data from the London clinic was conducted.
• Original: The patient was highly compliant. -> Nominalised: The patient's high compliance was noted by the Boston team.
• Original: We decided to discharge the patient. -> Nominalised: The decision to discharge the patient was finalized.
• Common mistakes
• The patient's presentation was occurred in Boston.
• The patient's presentation occurred in Boston.

Complete the sentences

• The clinical team in London came to a mutual (decide) ____ to initiate emergency bypass surgery.
• Due to the limited (available) ____ of the novel drug in Chicago, an alternative was chosen.
• The sudden (deteriorate) ____ of the patient's respiratory status surprised the Boston staff.
• A thorough (investigate) ____ of the rare symptoms was conducted by researchers in Leeds.
• The patient showed excellent (comply) ____ with the post-operative regimen prescribed in Houston.
• We must evaluate the (severe) ____ of the infection before the transfer to Birmingham.

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