Medical abbreviations are short forms clinicians use in notes, labs, and prescriptions. MedlinePlus (U.S. National Library of Medicine) lists common examples such as BP for blood pressure, CBC for complete blood count, MRI for magnetic resonance imaging, COPD for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, IV for intravenous, and UTI for urinary tract infection.
The same list includes prescription timing codes (BID twice a day, TID three times a day, PRN as needed) and disease or test shorthand such as CAD (coronary artery disease), ECG/EKG (electrocardiogram), and HbA1c-related diabetes terms patients often see on lab reports. Because some abbreviations can mean more than one thing, patients should ask a clinician when a chart entry is unclear.