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5 Capitalization Guidelines

General Capitalization Rules

Always capitalize the word “I’.

Always capitalize the first word in a sentence.

Capitalize the first word after quotation marks (“) when the phrase in quotation marks is a complete sentence.

Examples

Do you want to come along when I go for my vaccination?

Charanjeet and I will be meeting this afternoon.

The patient’s mother said, “My son has not been himself for a few days.”

 

Capitalize Proper Nouns

Element Capitalize? Example
Yes No  
Names x   My favourite actor is Jackie Chan.
Places x I grew up in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Organizations x I used to work at Grand River Hospital.
Common Hospital Departments x x Capitalize departments, divisions, or committees only when they include the name of the institution.

Examples: 

  • Has the laboratory sent the urine results yet?
  • The patient was transferred to St. Mary’s Intensive Care Unit.
  • The patient spent 2 weeks last year in the intensive care unit.
Medical Specialties x x Capitalize when the dictation is referring to the actual department, but do NOT capitalize when the dictation is referring to these words as common nouns.

Examples: 

  • The patient was given general anesthesia for the surgery. (here, anesthesia is a common noun, which means “drug for loss of sensation”)
  • Send the patient to Anesthesia for a presurgical consult. (In this case, we are talking about the Anesthesia specialty department in the hospital)
  • Her radiology results should shed some light on her condition.
  • The patient is currently waiting in Radiology.
Languages x I am fluent in English and German.
Nationalities, Races x My sister married a Swedish gentleman.
Courses x Health Care Terminology
Subjects x One of the skills required for this job is a solid knowledge of medical terminology.
Degrees/diplomas x By the beginning of May, I will have my Medical Office Practices certificate.
College programs x I am currently completing year 2 of the Health Office Administration diploma program.
Job title x x CAPITALIZE titles if they come before the person’s name and there is no comma after the title.

DO NOT CAPITALIZE titles if they come after the person’s name or in the place of their name.

Examples:

  • Prime Minister Trudeau will address the public.
  • The prime minister will address the public.
  • The Director of Medicine is Reinhold Schein.
  • Marianne D’Angelo, assistant director, is taking over next month.
Occupation x x DO NOT CAPITALIZE occupations before FULL names, unless the title replaces the person’s first name.

Examples:

  • I really enjoy movies by director Steven Spielberg.
  • Let’s talk to Professor Wong about the issue.
Diagnostic tests/clinical scores/physiological signs x x Capitalize diagnostic tests/clinical scores/physiological signs only when they are acronyms or eponyms. In the case of eponyms, only capitalize the eponym, not the word ‘test’ or ‘score’ or ‘sign’.

Examples:

  • Apgar score
  • Tinel sign
  • straight leg raising test
  • FABER test (FABER = flexion, abduction and external rotation)
Pathologies, diseases x x Only capitalize names of diseases if they are eponyms 

Examples:

  • diabetes mellitus
  • malignant melanoma
  • Alzheimer disease
  • Down syndrome
Seasons x I will be taking that course in the winter semester.
Days of the week x My classes are on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays.
Months x My birthday is in January.
Holidays x I’m fasting for Ramadan.
Street names x The college campus is at 299 Doon Valley Drive.
Brand names/Trade names x MS Office, MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Meditech, Accuro, Tylenol
Common nouns x
  • I have strong customer service and organizational skills.
  • I am now a graduate and have already received my diploma.
  • I’m working really hard at sharpening my computer software skills.
  • Most of my textbooks are now available online.
  • After class, I will be going to the hospital to visit my aunt.

Exceptions: When proper nouns are used as adjectives

  • Sometimes, proper nouns are used as adjectives (examples: roman numerals, arabic numerals, Canadian beef).
  • Unfortunately, there is no one, firm capitalization rule in these cases.
  • The general guideline states that these adjectives should be capitalized (since they are proper nouns) unless the term has been used for a very long time and has thus become a common noun (examples: roman numerals, arabic numerals).

 

Microorganisms

Capitalize the genus if both genus and species are listed, otherwise do NOT capitalize anything.

Examples

We need to rule out Pneumocystis carinii as the cause of these symptoms.

The patient likely has a pneumocystis infection.

The water was contaminated with E. coli.

This is likely a strep infection.

The cultures revealed Streptococcus pneumoniae.

GENUS SPECIES SHORT NAME
Clostridium difficile C. diff
Escherichia coli E. coli
Staphylococcus aureus S. aureus
Candida albicans C. albicans
Streptococcus pneumoniae S. pneumoniae

Did you get it? Try this activity. (Hint: Check Drugs.com to find out if a medication name is generic or a brand name.)

 

References

Public Works and Government Services Canada, Translation Bureau. (2015, October 15). Words derived from proper nouns. Retrieved May 2021, from BtB Translation Bureau: https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tcdnstyl-chap?lang=eng&lettr=chapsect4&info0=4.04

Strauss, J., & Grammarbook.com. (2021). Capitalization Rules. Retrieved May 2021, from GrammarBook.com: https://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/capital.asp

U.S. Government Publishing Office. (2000). U.S. Government Publishing Office Style Manual. Retrieved May 2021, from govinfo: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-STYLEMANUAL-2008/pdf/GPO-STYLEMANUAL-2008-5.pdf

 

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Best Practices for Formatting Medical Reports Copyright © 2021 by Ellen Dilgert is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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