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Welcome to Season 2

0.9% “Normal” Saline is one of the most commonly prescribed intravenous fluids in medicine, yet its name is one of the great misnomers of clinical practice.

In this episode, The Clinical Etymologist traces the laboratory origins of 0.9% sodium chloride and explains why it was never designed to replicate human plasma.

Through bedside teaching and clinical physiology, we explore how excess chloride alters acid–base balance and renal function.

The episode examines key evidence demonstrating the unintended potential harms of routine saline use and clarifies when “abnormal” normal saline is exactly the right choice—and when it is not.

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Some time ago in a teaching hospital far, far away… A new call shift had just been announced, and our clinical etymologist found himself preparing for another unpredictable day.

It felt fitting—almost poetic—that it was November 19th, the anniversary of the Gettysburg Address.

Little did the Clinical Etymologist know that this call would bring together etymology, Greek legend, and the physiology of hormonal clearance in the most unexpected way.

Medicine has a way of weaving history into the present, often when we least expect it.

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On a routine day call, two eager pre-clerks join the Clinical Etymologist in the ER, hoping to witness internal medicine in action.

What we get instead is a cramped cast room, a patient with right-sided weakness, and a half full urinal that almost fell. Not an ideal setting for teaching or learning.

This episode isn’t about rare diagnoses — it’s about staying steady when the answers aren’t clear. We explore stroke, vasculitis, and the power of physical exam.

But more than that, we explore what it means to teach — with integrity, in real time.