Deciphering a claimant's medical records is often the most challenging aspect of legal representation. Although some hospitals now generate computerized treatment notes, most of the medical records you encounter will still be handwritten in the notoriously illegible penmanship of doctors, interns and nurses. A medical abbreviations handbook is an indispensible tool for interpreting these hieroglyphics and is available at almost any bookstore.
Once you have ascertained the claimant's medical conditions and diagnoses, there are a number of excellent sources for further research on typical symptoms, treatment and prognosis. In addition to providing a jumping off point for evaluating the severity of your client's conditions, such background research comes in handy when interviewing clients, who frequently require some educated prompting to fully describe their symptoms. Awareness of typical symptoms and treatment will also help you to assess the client's credibility.
The following sources are reliable, easy to use, and widely recognized as authoritative: