Healthcare administrationDiscussion postMedical terminology

Medical terminology DIS 5-10 discussion guide

Six stories where the stakes escalate — Randi's unrecognised heart attack, Hernani's HIV disclosure dilemma, Sylvia's asthma triggers, bariatric surgery, a sibling kidney donation, and Calle's MS diagnosis — and two of them are emergencies where the graded answer is a correct action sequence.

Aug 11, 2026

Editorial process

Last reviewed · August 11, 2026

Written by

Aaron Bishop

MA, Education

assignment interpretation and research-methods coaching across disciplines

Reviewed by

Dr. Nathan Cole

PhD, Rhetoric & Composition

Argumentation and thesis development

On this page

Interpret the task
Assignment instructions
Deliverables
Proposed outline
Research plan
Reference shortlist
Final review

Which DIS stories are emergencies, and why does that matter?

Two of these six stories are time-critical clinical scenarios, and they grade differently from the rest. Randi's story (DIS 5) asks what Melanie can do immediately to save her life and why fast treatment matters in myocardial infarction — questions with correct answers: call emergency services, keep the patient still, and the time-is-muscle logic of reperfusion. The asthma story's escalation topic (DIS 7) is the same shape: if the inhaler fails and the condition worsens, the answer is a prompt-action sequence, not a reflection. When you choose those topics, write them as ordered steps with the reasoning attached — vagueness in an emergency answer is the most visible failure in the set. Randi's risk-factor topic has its own discipline: the story plants specific indicators, and the answer lists them and explains the mechanism by which each leads to cardiovascular disease.

The middle stories are judgement scenarios where the trap is answering from instinct rather than knowledge. Hernani's story (DIS 6) looks like an opinion prompt about HIV disclosure and coaching, but the strong answer knows the factual floor: HIV does not transmit through casual contact, bloodborne-exposure protocols exist in sports, and employment discrimination on HIV status is legally constrained — opinions built on those facts outrank feelings either way. The bariatric story (DIS 8) pairs an emotional-eating question with a surgical-risk question; the second is factual (anaesthesia, infection, clotting, and the specific post-bariatric dietary physiology). The organ-donation story (DIS 9) and Calle's MS story (DIS 10) both mix family ethics with concrete systems questions — living-donor long-term outcomes, insurance coverage questions, workplace accommodation — where naming what is actually known or where to find it is the substance.

As with the companion assignment, the format repeats six times: one entry per story, a listed topic or a substantive classmate reply. Vary your topic types across the six so the set shows range, use each chapter's terminology, and give every entry one thing that is checkable — a step sequence, a transmission fact, a named risk, an information source Calle could actually consult.

Likely learning objectives

Inferred from the brief — check these against your own rubric.

01
Write emergency-topic answers as ordered action sequences with the physiological reasoning attached.
02
Answer values-flavoured topics (HIV disclosure, donation, surgery choice) from the factual floor — transmission, outcomes, protections — before the opinion.
03
Connect each story's planted details (Randi's risk indicators, Sylvia's triggers) to the mechanisms the topics ask about.
04
Vary topic types across the six entries and deploy each chapter's terminology correctly.

Assignment instructionsQuoted verbatim

Read the full question

Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.

Read the Critical Thinking story on page 162 of your textbook. Submit 1 entry in response to the Topics listed. You may answer a topic or reply to another student’s answer to a topic. Topic 1 What information in the story indicates that Randi might be a candidate for heart disease? Explain why these items lead to CVD. Topic 2 Discuss why Randi thought this was not a heart attack. Topic 3 What can Melanie do immediately to try to save Randi’s life? Topic 4 Assuming that Randi is suffering a myocardial infarction, discuss why it is important that she receive appropriate treatment quickly. DIS 6 Read the Critical Thinking story on page 197 of your textbook. Submit 1 entry in response to the Topics listed. You may answer a topic or reply to another student’s answer to a topic. Topic 1 Do you think Hernani should reveal his HIV status to South Hills Middle School? If so, why? If not, why not? Topic 2 Do you think South Hills Middle School would hire Hernani for a coaching job if they knew he was HIV positive? Why or why not? Would the possibility of a team or coaching injury, and the bloodborne transmission of HIV, affect their decision? Topic 3 If South Hills Middle School decided that Hernani was not suitable for a coaching job, would they still consider him for the teaching position? Topic 4 How would you feel if your child were in a class Hernani was teaching or on one of the teams he was coaching? Why? DIS 7 Read the Critical Thinking story on page 230 of your textbook. Submit 1 entry in response to the Topics listed. You may answer a topic or reply to another student’s answer to a topic. Topic 1 Discuss which environmental factors might cause an asthma attack. Topic 2 Discuss what Sylvia might do to find out if her building has an air quality problem. Topic 3 What factors did Sylvia and Kelly consider as possible triggers for Sylvia’s frequent attacks? Topic 4 If Sylvia’s inhaler does not control her attack and her condition worsens, what steps should be taken promptly? Why? DIS 8 Read the Critical Thinking story on page 267 of your textbook. Submit 1 entry in response to the Topics listed. You may answer a topic or reply to another student’s answer to a topic. Topic 1 Gabby is concerned about her emotional eating. What reasons besides hunger might cause people to eat? Topic 2 If her weight wasn’t causing any health problems, should she consider having the surgery if she thought it would make her look more attractive? Topic 3 Why is there a very strict diet that patients must follow after bariatric surgery, and why is it sometimes difficult to follow this regime? Topic 4 What are some of the dangers associated with any type of surgery? DIS 9 Read the Critical Thinking story on page 297 of your textbook. Submit 1 entry in response to the Topics listed. You may answer a topic or reply to another student’s answer to a topic. Topic 1 Discuss the long-term repercussions of being a living organ donor? Topic 2 Imagine that you are Josie’s mom or dad and one of your children has the opportunity to save the life of another one of your children. Would you encourage him or her to donate an organ? Topic 3 If Josie decides to donate her kidney and then later chooses to continue playing hockey, what advice should her parents give her? Topic 4 What options might be open to Josie’s brother other than having his sister donate a kidney? DIS 10 Read the Critical Thinking story on page 335 of your textbook. Submit 1 entry in response to the Topics listed. You may answer a topic or reply to another student’s answer to a topic. Topic 1 Which symptoms of Calle’s condition might affect her job? She has been working with the youngest children. Should she consider resigning, or could she ask for a different assignment? Topic 2 Calle and Gabe decide to go ahead with the wedding. If they have children, is there a risk that Calle will transmit this condition? If Calle cannot have children, what other options would enable them to have the family they both want? BW Medi Term Assignment 2 Topic 3 After their marriage, Calle will be covered by her husband’s health insurance. Calle is ethical in completing her application for this coverage and mentions the MS diagnosis. But she has questions. Where could Calle get information as to whether or not the insurance company will ever cover her for this disease? Will her coverage begin immediately? Topic 4 Calle is an excellent teacher and the children love her. In the past, her coworkers have commented, “I wish I could learn to be as good at this as you are.” Even with multiple sclerosis, could Calle have a future in training other teachers? What other positive steps might she contemplate taking?

Turn the brief into deliverables

01
One entry for each of the six stories (DIS 5-10), per the repeated instruction.
02
Each entry answering one listed topic — or substantively replying to a classmate, as permitted.
03
Answers reflecting the assigned Critical Thinking stories on the textbook's stated pages.

How should the six entries divide by story type?

DIS 5 — Randi's heart attack

Choose among risk-indicator analysis, the denial topic, the immediate-response topic, and the time-to-treatment topic; the first and third have the most checkable content — planted indicators explained mechanistically, and the emergency steps in order.

DIS 6 — Hernani's disclosure dilemma

Whichever topic you take, lay the factual floor first — how HIV does and does not transmit, what bloodborne protocols in sports look like, what employment protections exist — then argue the position.

DIS 7 — Sylvia's asthma

The trigger topics want environmental specifics (air quality, allergens, the factors the story names); the escalation topic wants the prompt-action sequence when an inhaler fails.

DIS 8 — Gabby and bariatric surgery

The emotional-eating and appearance-motivation topics are psychology questions answered honestly; the post-surgical diet and surgical-danger topics are factual and reward the actual physiology.

DIS 9 and DIS 10 — donation and diagnosis

Both stories mix family ethics with systems questions: living-donor long-term repercussions and alternatives for Josie's brother; job accommodation, transmission risk, insurance information sources and future planning for Calle.

Which clinical facts anchor the judgement stories?

Recommended databases

The course textbook's chapters for each story (primary)
MedlinePlus
HIV.gov
organdonor.gov

Search sequence

1.
Reread each story on its stated page and mark which topics are emergencies, which are factual, and which are values questions.
2.
For the emergency topics, confirm the response sequences against an authoritative first-response source.
3.
For Hernani's story, read the HIV transmission basics so the factual floor is right.
4.
For the donation story, check living-donor outcome facts; for Calle's, identify one real insurance-information source her topic can name.

Reference shortlist

These are authoritative starting points, not a ready-made bibliography. A qualified reviewer must confirm that each source fits the assignment and supports the claim beside which it is cited.

Nothing here is cleared for citation until you have read it.

01
Heart Attack
MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine · 2024
Symptoms, risk factors and the urgency logic behind DIS 5 — the source for both the indicator-mechanism topic and the why-fast-treatment topic.
02
How Is HIV Transmitted?
HIV.gov, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services · 2024
The transmission facts that form DIS 6's factual floor — what casual and sports contact does and does not risk — beneath any disclosure opinion.
03
Living Organ Donation
organdonor.gov, Health Resources and Services Administration · 2024
The living-donor process and outcome facts DIS 9's repercussions topic needs, from the federal organ-donation authority.

Review before submission

Common mistakes

Writing the Randi and asthma escalation answers as concerned commentary when they demand step sequences — call, position, monitor, escalate — with the why attached.
Answering Hernani's HIV topics from gut feeling without the transmission and workplace-protection facts that make an opinion defensible in a health course.
Listing Randi's risk indicators without the 'explain why these items lead to CVD' half, which is where the terminology and mechanism marks sit.
Treating the bariatric surgical-risk topic as generic ('surgery is risky') when the post-bariatric diet question has a specific physiological answer.
Answering Calle's insurance topic with sympathy instead of the information sources the topic explicitly asks for.
Recycling one register across six entries — the set is built to show range, and sameness is visible.

Submission checklist

Six entries submitted, one per story.
Emergency topics answered as ordered steps with reasons.
Judgement topics grounded in at least one stated fact before any opinion.
Chapter terminology present and correct in each entry.
Each entry ends with something checkable: a step, a fact, a named resource.

Use this guide to plan and review your own work. Follow your institution's rules and read our academic-integrity policy.