Clinical

Clinical can refer to:

• Practices undertaken in a clinic
• Medical practice done in a clinic or at the bedside (Greek: κλινικος/klinikos, of the bed), or concerning care of patients who are presently ill (vs. statistical studies or experimental work to be applied to future patients).
• Clinical examination which is observation of a patient by a doctors' direct or amplified senses (such as a stethoscope), but not including X-rays, scans, chemical or laboratory tests, etc. More commonly referred to as physical examination.
• Applied medical sciences and professions such as clinical psychology or clinical medicine
• Specific procedures with patients, such as a clinical trial or clinical governance
• Specific conditions diagnosed from only clinical examination, such as clinical depression or clinical death

Note that veterinarians also use the word clinical in all of the above senses, including the running of veterinary clinics, so the patients referred to may be human or animal.

See also

• Clinician