Vitals

Ever try to read the prescription form from a doctor? Besides the fact that it might have a few Latin abbreviations, most of the writing is usually illegible.

Officials at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis are adding a section on penmanship for students in the fall. Antoinette Hood, assistant dean at the school, said it would be part of an enhanced effort to help medical students understand the need to communicate well with patients and colleagues.

Poor penmanship, she said, can lead to mix-ups in medication and treatment if the orders are misread. “If you can’t communicate with your handwriting, then you can’t communicate well, and you run the risk of not being a good doctor,” said Hood, a dermatologist, who added that when she gives patients written material about their treatment, she always asks, “Can you read what I wrote?”

The real handwriting test will come at the end of medical school, when, Hood said, she is hoping to have the students write out orders and send them to the nursing school, where nursing students there will see if they can read them.