MedLexis is a multilingual professional resource designed for healthcare professionals working across languages.

It brings together clinical terminology, patient-friendly explanations, specialty-specific phraseology, structured templates and professional learning tools in one place.

The initial platform supports UK English, French and Spanish, with further languages and clinical specialties planned.

[Open MedLexis]

No identifiable patient information should be entered into the current professional version of the platform.

What can you use it for?

Healthcare professionals often need more than a literal translation. A clinical term may have:

• a formal professional equivalent;
• a more natural term used by clinicians in another country;
• a different expression suitable for a patient;
• specialty-specific wording;
• particular documentation conventions;
• several possible translations whose meanings are not completely interchangeable.

The Clinical Language Platform is designed to bring these layers together.

Search one clinical concept and access:

Professional terminology
Equivalent clinical terms across supported languages.

Patient-friendly wording
Clearer ways of explaining clinical concepts without unnecessary jargon.

Clinical phraseology
Common questions, explanations and instructions used in practice.

Specialty context
How terminology and phrasing are used within particular clinical areas.

Templates
Structured wording for common professional communications and workflows.

Related concepts
Quick access to associated symptoms, investigations, treatments and clinical terms.

Sources and validation information
Where available, content includes terminology sources, jurisdiction, review status and version information.

Explore the free clinical language resource

The public version of the platform is free to search.

Search multilingual clinical terminology

Look up professional and patient-friendly terminology in:

UK English · French · Spanish

Examples include:

• diabetes;
• glycated haemoglobin / HbA1c;
• hypoglycaemia;
• hypertension;
• home blood-pressure monitoring;
• renal function;
• albuminuria;
• medication adherence;
• cardiovascular risk;
• adverse effects;
• follow-up and monitoring.

[Search Clinical Terminology]

Clinical units

Diabetes

The Diabetes unit brings together terminology and communication covering the diabetes pathway, including:

• symptoms and diagnosis;
• blood glucose;
• HbA1c;
• hypoglycaemia and hyperglycaemia;
• medication;
• insulin;
• adherence;
• self-monitoring;
• renal and cardiovascular monitoring;
• diabetic complications;
• diet and physical activity;
• patient education;
• follow-up.

[Explore Diabetes]

Hypertension

The Hypertension unit covers terminology and communication relating to:

• blood-pressure measurement;
• diagnosis and monitoring;
• home blood-pressure monitoring;
• cardiovascular risk;
• medication and adherence;
• adverse effects;
• renal investigations;
• lifestyle measures;
• target-organ damage;
• referral and escalation;
• long-term follow-up.

[Explore Hypertension]

Professional language and patient language are not the same

A medically correct translation is not always the clearest way to communicate with a patient. The platform therefore distinguishes between different language registers. For example, a concept may appear as:

Professional terminology

→ terminology suitable for clinical documentation or communication between healthcare professionals.

Professional spoken language

→ natural wording used during clinical interaction.

Patient-friendly language

→ wording designed to explain the same clinical concept clearly to a patient.

The aim is not simply to translate words, but to preserve clinical meaning while adapting the language to the audience and context.

Designed around clinical concepts, not isolated translations

Traditional bilingual glossaries often store individual terms as translation pairs. MedLexis takes a different approach. Each clinical concept can connect to:

• professional terminology;
• synonyms and abbreviations;
• translations;
• patient-friendly equivalents;
• clinical questions;
• explanations;
• templates;
• specialties;
• professional roles;
• related concepts;
• recognised terminology systems;
• sources;
• validation and review information.

This allows the same clinical meaning to be reused consistently across different languages and professional contexts.

Templates and professional communication

The platform has been developed to include structured multilingual templates for common healthcare workflows. Examples include:

• patient history questions;
• monitoring instructions;
• medication counselling;
• follow-up instructions;
• SBAR handover;
• referral wording;
• discharge communication;
• laboratory communication;
• imaging preparation and procedural instructions;
• patient education.

Templates are designed to support professional communication rather than replace clinical judgement.

[View Sample Templates]

Built for healthcare professionals

The platform is intended for a broad range of healthcare users, including:

Doctors

Clinical terminology, patient explanations, specialty phraseology and documentation language.

Nurses and midwives

Patient communication, monitoring terminology, handover, education and structured templates.

Pharmacists

Medication terminology, treatment explanations, adverse effects and adherence communication.

Laboratory professionals

Test terminology, specimen communication and patient-facing explanations.

Radiographers and imaging professionals

Screening, preparation, procedural communication and technical terminology.

Medical translators and interpreters

Terminology research, equivalence, register and clinical context.

Students and internationally trained healthcare professionals

Professional language development and specialty-specific learning.

Learn as you work

The same terminology database can also support professional language learning. Future learning functions will include:

• saved terminology;
• favourites;
• short quizzes;
• spaced repetition;
• specialty vocabulary;
• pronunciation;
• clinical scenarios;
• professional documentation exercises;
• patient-explanation exercises.

The aim is to connect reference, communication and professional learning, rather than treating them as separate activities.

Clinical and linguistic governance

Healthcare language requires greater care than ordinary translation. The platform is being designed around principles including:

• clinical review;
• linguistic review;
• clear distinction between professional and patient-facing language;
• UK clinical localisation;
• source transparency;
• version control;
• terminology provenance;
• structured handling of clinically important numbers, units and instructions;
• organisation-specific content where appropriate.

Where professional interpretation is required for safe care, the platform is intended to support rather than replace qualified interpreters.

Privacy by design

The current professional version of the platform is designed as a terminology, communication and learning resource.

Users must not enter identifiable patient information into the public or professional reference tools.

Future clinical modules involving patient-specific information will require a separate secure environment with appropriate information-governance, privacy and clinical-safety controls.

Help us build the terminology clinicians actually need

Clinical language varies by specialty, profession, country and healthcare system. If you cannot find a term, phrase or clinical concept, you can request it. You can also suggest:

• alternative terminology;
• UK usage;
• French or Spanish variants;
• specialty-specific wording;
• patient-friendly alternatives;
• commonly used abbreviations;
• corrections or improvements.

[Suggest a Term]

Your suggestions help identify which areas of the platform should be developed next.

Free access

You can use the public terminology resource without creating an account. A free account will progressively add features such as:

• saved terms;
• favourites;
• recent searches;
• personal terminology lists;
• limited quizzes;
• selected specialty content.

[Search for Free]

Professional access

The Professional version is being developed to provide:

• full specialty modules;
• expanded clinical phraseology;
• advanced terminology search;
• professional and patient-language comparison;
• full template library;
• learning tools;
• saved collections;
• advanced specialty content.

[Join the Early Access List]

For healthcare organisations

Future organisational versions will support:

• organisation-specific terminology;
• approved local wording;
• specialty workflows;
• multilingual templates;
• controlled content approval;
• version history;
• usage analytics;
• role-based access;
• integration with local clinical systems.

If your organisation is interested in piloting multilingual professional clinical-language tools, please contact us.

[Enquire About Organisational Access]

Start exploring

Search the free multilingual terminology resource or explore one of the first clinical units.

[Search Clinical Terminology]

[Explore Diabetes]

[Explore Hypertension]

Important information

The Clinical Language Platform is intended to support healthcare professionals with terminology, professional communication and education. It does not replace clinical judgement, formal medical advice, professional interpretation where required, or locally approved clinical policies and procedures. The current version must not be used to enter, store or process identifiable patient information.