What is onogology?

Nursing Students CNA/MA

Published

I had a CNA interview in an onogology department today. I thought she said oncology over the phone so when I saw her business card I was like oh no! I have never encountered this word before, what is it? Luckily she didn't ask me about it, but I know it has to do with patients who some may need total care.

Specializes in None.

Oncology is a cancer unit. They can have any cancer at any stage.

But it is onogology..... Not oncology. It wasn't a misspelling.

Specializes in None.

Oh, well I have no idea either then. Hopefully someone can educate both of us, never heard of it either. :-)

Specializes in Surgical.

I believe from what I've researched that it is another name for oncology. I've found that some onogology doctors focus on hematological conditions, while others focus on radiation or chemotherapy (kind of like a subgroup of oncology). Let me know if this is right once you find out! I really had to dig deep in order to pull these little pieces of information.

I did some googling, and it seems to be a weird way of saying Oncology. I have no idea if that is right, it's just my assumption.

It's weird that such a severe misspelling could occur on a business card, but it's equally unbelievable to me that onogology is a real specialty. When I google oncology (and other specialties), the top hits are from professional organizations representing professionals in the specialty. When I google onogology, I get blogs, patient support sites and other forums where the word has been typed by laypeople like patients or family members. That's the giveaway to me.

Hospitals often have a unit that cares for elderly patients, and some hospitals call it the gerontology unit. That's another term that comes to mind. Good luck on the job. As long as it's not ornithology, you should be okay.

+ Add a Comment