Is it "Preventative Medicine"? Nope. Never

It's "preventive medicine."

Does that sound funny to you? Sure, that’s why you want to call it “preventative.” All those syllables just feel right. They make it sound like quantitative or qualitative or administrative. “And “preventative” is a perfectly good word – it’s just not an adjective, so it can’t describe medicine or anything else – not now, not today, not ever. Please stop calling it “preventative medicine.” That’s just wrong. Call it “preventive medicine.”

Now a preventative really is a thing. It’s something that helps prevent. It’s a noun. Here are some examples:

·      Take this pill. It’s a preventative. It might keep you from becoming ill.

·      Have your teeth cleaned regularly. Oral prophylaxis is a good preventative. It might save you from tooth decay and gum disease.

·      Let’s hold a quick meeting to review the steps before we launch; consider it a preventative, because we can’t risk mistakes tomorrow.

It’s understandable that preventive and preventative might be so often confused. In each case above, the word preventive could easily be part of the conversation.

·      Take this pill. It’s a preventative. It might keep you from becoming ill. You would be practicing good preventive medicine.

·      Have your teeth cleaned regularly. Oral prophylaxis is a good preventative. It might save you from tooth decay and gum disease. It’s always smart to use preventive oral health measures.

·      Let’s hold a quick meeting to review the steps before we launch; consider it a preventative, because we can’t risk mistakes tomorrow. I think it wise to take preventive measures to ensure success.

See the difference? A preventative is a thing – it doesn’t describe something else. Preventive is never a thing all by itself. It always describes something. Now you know. Still confused? Email us at info@TamarackCommunication.com.