La salle de consultation

Kimber H.B2Kwiziq community member

La salle de consultation

This term is used rather than "salle d'auscultation". I've never heard this term ever used in France.
Asked 3 years ago
Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Many different terms in French for various parts of the medical work space, just as in English. Also, as in English, some are known/used mostly within the field rather than at patient/consumer level:

Salle de consultation is esentially the normal consulting room or office (depending on your English region) - so this is what you will hear referred to most frequently (and it appears far more often on google search results than salle d'auscultation), as it is where the majority of medical consultations and activity occurs - interestingly it hasn't been included on the vocabulary list; 

salle d'auscultation is more specifically an "examination room" (for physical examination);

salle d'examen generally refers to a room with diagnostic testing equipment, or one with more 'advanced' equipment for specialised/ sophisticated physical examinations;

Of course, as the consultation room and the general examination room can be one and the same, there is some overlap - and salle de consultation is used very frequently in reference to these 'combined' rooms also.

There is also salle d'attente, salle de traitement, salle d'accouchement, salle d'isolement and salle d'opération among others etc etc:

 https://www.equipmedical.com/fr/products/ensemble-examen-epoxy

 

http://www.artinhome.fr/amenagement-et-decoration-des-salles-de-consultations/

https://www.alamyimages.fr/photo-image-salle-d-examen-medical-11535839.html

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Just for the medically interested: auscultation is the process of tapping the body in a percussive way and listening for changes in sound. It is a very specific technique of medical examination.

Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

That is true in English Chris, but 'ausculter' in French also has a more general meaning of examine/consult etc, and 'auscultation' is not just a medical term in French. I can confirm that 'ausculter' is in everyday, colloquial written and spoken use in France for a medical assessment/ examination generally, not just 'auscultation'. 

https://www.wordreference.com/fren/ausculter

https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/auscultation/6521

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/french-english/ausculter (See the examples of usage of ausculter).

CécileNative French expert teacher in Kwiziq

Merci Kimber (et  Maarten pour cette réponse très détaillée), nous avons ajouté ‘salle de consultation’ à la liste.

Bonne Continuation!

Kimber H. asked:

La salle de consultation

This term is used rather than "salle d'auscultation". I've never heard this term ever used in France.

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