We are all familiar with the power of words, whether it be those of kindness or anger, or those intended to harm or to heal.

This power is especially pertinent for us as doctors, as we are often given a window into the most private and vulnerable parts of people’s lives.

In my early years of medical school, I failed a mock OSCE station for using the word ‘hypertension’.

My perfectionist brain simply could not fathom how I could lose marks on something so trivial. I stared at my score sheet, the words “use of medical jargon” with two imposing underlines scrawled under the station number.