Do you think using medical terminology would come off as pretentious to an adcom?
I’m a non-trad coming from clinical pharmacy and speaking with medical terms is very natural for me, but I don’t want an adcom to think that I am trying to impress them or show off anything.
Specific example: I caught a case of rhabdomyolysis while in school and was wanting to use it in my statement. Is rhabdo okay? or rhabdomyolysis? Idk how I could tell this story without using that word.
I would think that using the full word as the diagnosis of the condition should be fine. It’s a lot more concise than trying to describe the case when it has a name, and it’s not surprising that you would know the word if a) it was a diagnosis of your own condition or b) you work in medicine. I’d try to avoid the use of jargon, ie just calling it rhabdo, because you really don’t know who will be reading your application. There are more than just physicians that sit on admissions committees, plus there are more conditions that start with rhabdo- than just rhabdomyolysis (though you’re right, it’s usually just shortened).