Penn Med Informed Consent Library
Procedures versus Medical Terms
The IC Library integrates two separate listings - a Procedures library and a Medical Terms library. Both are searchable by keyword and alphabetically, but are presented as 2 separate lists. Procedures will be listed first, followed by Medical Terms.
The Procedures library provides descriptions and risk language of medical procedures in lay language. This is helpful when developing the “What Am I Being Asked To Do?” section of the informed consent.. The Medical Terms library provides general descriptions of terms, in lay language, frequently used in an informed consent.
Find a Procedure/Term
Procedures and terms can be found either by a keyword search or alphabetically.
Keyword Search: Enter a keyword in the box and click “Search”. For example, to find a bone scan, enter “bone” or “scan”. For best results, enter only one keyword. If more than one keyword is entered, it will search for that phrase only. For example, if “bone scan” is entered, the search will not find the result “bone density scan”. The search results will be listed in alphabetical order, Procedures first followed by Medical Terms.
Alphabetical Listing: By clicking on the letter or letter groups in the Alphabetical Listing box, all terms beginning with the chosen letter will be displayed, Procedures first followed by Medical Terms.
Insert a Procedure/Term from the tool to an Informed Consent
NOTE: The Procedures and Terms in the IC Library will be updated on a regular basis. For this reason, it is important to reference the tool to assure that you are using the most up-to-date definitions from the library for your consent.
After finding the procedure/term you would like to add to the informed consent you are writing, copy and paste the text of the selected procedure/term into the document. Use the instructions below to do this using Microsoft Word:
Add a New Procedure/Term
If a desired procedure/term is not found in the library, or the language/definitions do not meet your needs, you are encouraged to suggest a procedure/term or alternate language. Do so by clicking on the link to “Add a Procedure/Term”.

Enter as much information as desired. Even if you do not have a definition, but would like to see one added, enter just the procedure or term and click the Submit button. If you do have language or a definition to suggest, please feel free to add.
For more information about the Informed Consent Library, contact the Office of Human Research at 215-746-7400 or ohr@mail.med.upenn.edu.
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