How to use these flashcards
Flip a card with a click or the spacebar, then sort it as one you know or one to review again. The deck keeps a running count of what you know, so you can drill only the cards you have not mastered yet. Shuffle any time to break the order you have started to memorize by position rather than by content.
Recall practice like this pairs best with active testing. When a deck starts to feel easy, switch to the Pharmacy Abbreviations quiz to confirm the knowledge holds up under multiple-choice pressure, or work through the full set of free PTCB quizzes.
24 cards from this deck
Here are the first 24 of the 159 cards written out in full, so you can scan or print them without flipping. The deck above shuffles all 159.
| Abbreviation | Meaning | Hint |
|---|---|---|
| ad lib | freely, as much or as often as the patient wants | From Latin ad libitum; used when the order sets no fixed limit. |
| ATC | around the clock | Doses are given at set intervals through the full 24 hours, day and night. |
| bid | twice a day | From bis in die; the two doses are usually spaced about 12 hours apart. |
| tid | three times a day | From ter in die; commonly spaced roughly every 8 hours during waking hours. |
| qid | four times a day | From quater in die; do not confuse with qd (daily) or qod (every other day). |
| q | every | Placed before a number and time unit, as in q8h meaning every 8 hours. |
| qh | every hour | From quaque hora; a number can be added, so q1h means every 1 hour. |
| q1h | every 1 hour | The number can be swapped, so q3h means every 3 hours. |
| q2h | every 2 hours | |
| q4h | every 4 hours | |
| q6h | every 6 hours | |
| q8h | every 8 hours | |
| q12h | every 12 hours | |
| ac | before meals | From ante cibum; the dose is taken shortly before eating. |
| pc | after meals | From post cibum; often used to lessen stomach upset by dosing after food. |
| hs | at bedtime | From hora somni; ISMP advises writing 'bedtime' because hs is also read as half-strength. |
| qhs | every night at bedtime | Error-prone; can be misread as qhr (every hour), so spell out 'nightly'. |
| prn | as needed | From pro re nata; a good order also states the reason and a minimum interval, as in prn pain q6h. |
| stat | immediately, right now | From statim; signals a single urgent dose to be given without delay. |
| qam | every morning | Also written qAM; means one dose each morning. |
| qpm | every evening | Also written qPM; means one dose each evening. |
| ud | as directed | From ut dictum; ISMP flags it because it can be misread as 'unit dose', so spell out 'as directed'. |
| noct | at night | From nocte. |
| am | morning, before noon | From ante meridiem. |
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