Okuzeka
Medicine vocabulary · Hospital Departments and Staff

Outpatient

Meaning in medicine, with examples

/ˈaʊtpeɪʃənt/nounCore term

In medicine, outpatient means: A patient who visits a hospital or clinic for an appointment, test or treatment without staying overnight; also used as an adjective for this kind of care.

In Turkish: ayaktan hasta, poliklinik hastası, ayaktan

How it is used

The opposite of inpatient (a patient staying on a ward). Common phrases: outpatient clinic, outpatient appointment, managed as an outpatient. In UK hospitals the outpatient department is often just called 'outpatients'.

Example sentences

  1. His pneumonia is mild, so we can treat him as an outpatient.

  2. She has an outpatient appointment with the rheumatologist next month.

Common collocations

  • outpatient clinic
  • outpatient appointment
  • as an outpatient
  • outpatient department
  • inpatient
  • admitTo accept a patient into hospital so that they stay in a bed for treatment or observation, usually for at least one night.
  • wardA part of a hospital with beds where patients stay overnight or longer, usually for one specialty, such as a surgical or children's ward.
  • follow-upA later appointment or check to see how a patient is doing after treatment, a test result or a hospital stay.
  • referralThe act of sending a patient to another doctor, specialist team or service for an opinion, tests or treatment; also the letter or request that does this.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Hospital Departments and Staff

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level:

This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.