The largest country in North America, comprising 10 provinces and three territories. Its capital is Ottawa.

Persons who donate their services.

Persons with no known significant health problems who are recruited to participate in research to test a new drug, device, or intervention as controls for a patient group. (from http://clinicalcenter.nih.gov/recruit/volunteers.html, accessed 2/14/2013)

A province of Canada lying between the provinces of Manitoba and Quebec. Its capital is Toronto. It takes its name from Lake Ontario which is said to represent the Iroquois oniatariio, beautiful lake. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p892 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p391)

A province of Canada on the Pacific coast. Its capital is Victoria. The name given in 1858 derives from the Columbia River which was named by the American captain Robert Gray for his ship Columbia which in turn was named for Columbus. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p178 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p81-2)

A province of western Canada, lying between the provinces of British Columbia and Saskatchewan. Its capital is Edmonton. It was named in honor of Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p26 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p12)

A province of eastern Canada. Its capital is Quebec. The region belonged to France from 1627 to 1763 when it was lost to the British. The name is from the Algonquian quilibek meaning the place where waters narrow, referring to the gradually narrowing channel of the St. Lawrence or to the narrows of the river at Cape Diamond. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p993 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p440)

Studies comparing two or more treatments or interventions in which the subjects or patients, upon completion of the course of one treatment, are switched to another. In the case of two treatments, A and B, half the subjects are randomly allocated to receive these in the order A, B and half to receive them in the order B, A. A criticism of this design is that effects of the first treatment may carry over into the period when the second is given. (Last, A Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed)

A province of Canada, lying between the provinces of Saskatchewan and Ontario. Its capital is Winnipeg. Taking its name from Lake Manitoba, itself named for one of its islands, the name derived from Algonquian Manitou, great spirit. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p724 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p332)

Individuals who donate their services to the hospital.

A method of studying a drug or procedure in which both the subjects and investigators are kept unaware of who is actually getting which specific treatment.

A province of eastern Canada, one of the Maritime Provinces with NEW BRUNSWICK; PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND; and sometimes NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR. Its capital is Halifax. The territory was granted in 1621 by James I to the Scotsman Sir William Alexander and was called Nova Scotia, the Latin for New Scotland. The territory had earlier belonged to the French, under the name of Acadia. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p871 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p384)

A federally administered division of Canada. Its capital is Yellowknife. The former northern and eastern-most parts of the Territory comprise the new territory of Nunavut, effective April 1, 1999.

The use of humans as investigational subjects.

The range or frequency distribution of a measurement in a population (of organisms, organs or things) that has not been selected for the presence of disease or abnormality.

A province of Canada, lying between the provinces of Alberta and Manitoba. Its capital is Regina. It is entirely a plains region with prairie in the south and wooded country with many lakes and swamps in the north. The name was taken from the Saskatchewan River from the Cree name Kisiskatchewani Sipi, meaning rapid-flowing river. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p1083 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p486)

The giving of drugs, chemicals, or other substances by mouth.

A self-governing territory formed from the central and eastern portions of the Northwest Territories. It was officially established April 1, 1999. The capital is Iqaluit.

Elements of limited time intervals, contributing to particular results or situations.

A territory of northwest Canada, bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the south by British Columbia, and on the west by Alaska. Its capital is Whitehorse. It takes its name from the Yukon River, the Indian yu-kun-ah, meaning big river. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p1367 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p608)

Province of Canada consisting of the island of Newfoundland and an area of Labrador. Its capital is St. John's.

The time it takes for a substance (drug, radioactive nuclide, or other) to lose half of its pharmacologic, physiologic, or radiologic activity.

A statistical means of summarizing information from a series of measurements on one individual. It is frequently used in clinical pharmacology where the AUC from serum levels can be interpreted as the total uptake of whatever has been administered. As a plot of the concentration of a drug against time, after a single dose of medicine, producing a standard shape curve, it is a means of comparing the bioavailability of the same drug made by different companies. (From Winslade, Dictionary of Clinical Research, 1992)

Inuktitut-speakers generally associated with the northern polar region.

An island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence constituting a province of Canada in the eastern part of the country. It is very irregular in shape with many deep inlets. Its capital is Charlottetown. Discovered by the French in 1534 and originally named Ile Saint-Jean, it was renamed in 1799 in honor of Prince Edward, fourth son of George III and future father of Queen Victoria. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p981 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p433)

The extent to which the active ingredient of a drug dosage form becomes available at the site of drug action or in a biological medium believed to reflect accessibility to a site of action.

The statistical reproducibility of measurements (often in a clinical context), including the testing of instrumentation or techniques to obtain reproducible results. The concept includes reproducibility of physiological measurements, which may be used to develop rules to assess probability or prognosis, or response to a stimulus; reproducibility of occurrence of a condition; and reproducibility of experimental results.

The Arctic Ocean and the lands in it and adjacent to it. It includes Point Barrow, Alaska, most of the Franklin District in Canada, two thirds of Greenland, Svalbard, Franz Josef Land, Lapland, Novaya Zemlya, and Northern Siberia. (Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p66)

The action of a drug that may affect the activity, metabolism, or toxicity of another drug.

A province of eastern Canada, one of the Maritime Provinces with NOVA SCOTIA; PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND; and sometimes NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR. Its capital is Fredericton. It was named in honor of King George III, of the House of Hanover, also called Brunswick. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p828 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p375)

Predetermined sets of questions used to collect data - clinical data, social status, occupational group, etc. The term is often applied to a self-completed survey instrument.

An approach to health care financing with only one source of money for paying health care providers. The scope may be national (the Canadian System), state-wide, or community-based. The payer may be a governmental unit or other entity such as an insurance company. The proposed advantages include administrative simplicity for patients and providers, and resulting significant savings in overhead costs. (From Slee and Slee, Health Care Reform Terms, 1993, p106)

Studies which start with the identification of persons with a disease of interest and a control (comparison, referent) group without the disease. The relationship of an attribute to the disease is examined by comparing diseased and non-diseased persons with regard to the frequency or levels of the attribute in each group.

Non-invasive method of demonstrating internal anatomy based on the principle that atomic nuclei in a strong magnetic field absorb pulses of radiofrequency energy and emit them as radiowaves which can be reconstructed into computerized images. The concept includes proton spin tomographic techniques.

The relationship between the dose of an administered drug and the response of the organism to the drug.

A statistical technique that isolates and assesses the contributions of categorical independent variables to variation in the mean of a continuous dependent variable.

Individual members of North American ethnic groups with ancient historic ancestral origins in Asia.

Excrement from the INTESTINES, containing unabsorbed solids, waste products, secretions, and BACTERIA of the DIGESTIVE SYSTEM.

An aspect of personal behavior or lifestyle, environmental exposure, or inborn or inherited characteristic, which, on the basis of epidemiologic evidence, is known to be associated with a health-related condition considered important to prevent.

I'm sorry for any confusion, but the term "geese" is a common name for certain species of waterfowl and doesn't have a medical definition. It is not related to medical terminology or healthcare.

Components of a national health care system which administer specific services, e.g., national health insurance.

The number of times the HEART VENTRICLES contract per unit of time, usually per minute.

Binary classification measures to assess test results. Sensitivity or recall rate is the proportion of true positives. Specificity is the probability of correctly determining the absence of a condition. (From Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed)

The long-term (minutes to hours) administration of a fluid into the vein through venipuncture, either by letting the fluid flow by gravity or by pumping it.

The evacuation of food from the stomach into the duodenum.

The total number of cases of a given disease in a specified population at a designated time. It is differentiated from INCIDENCE, which refers to the number of new cases in the population at a given time.

Age as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or the effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from AGING, a physiological process, and TIME FACTORS which refers only to the passage of time.

Volume of biological fluid completely cleared of drug metabolites as measured in unit time. Elimination occurs as a result of metabolic processes in the kidney, liver, saliva, sweat, intestine, heart, brain, or other site.

Injections made into a vein for therapeutic or experimental purposes.

The process of leaving one's country to establish residence in a foreign country.

Sudden increase in the incidence of a disease. The concept includes EPIDEMICS and PANDEMICS.

Maleness or femaleness as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from SEX CHARACTERISTICS, anatomical or physiological manifestations of sex, and from SEX DISTRIBUTION, the number of males and females in given circumstances.

Any dummy medication or treatment. Although placebos originally were medicinal preparations having no specific pharmacological activity against a targeted condition, the concept has been extended to include treatments or procedures, especially those administered to control groups in clinical trials in order to provide baseline measurements for the experimental protocol.

PRESSURE of the BLOOD on the ARTERIES and other BLOOD VESSELS.

Studies in which the presence or absence of disease or other health-related variables are determined in each member of the study population or in a representative sample at one particular time. This contrasts with LONGITUDINAL STUDIES which are followed over a period of time.

Small-scale tests of methods and procedures to be used on a larger scale if the pilot study demonstrates that these methods and procedures can work.

A method in which either the observer(s) or the subject(s) is kept ignorant of the group to which the subjects are assigned.

Liquid chromatographic techniques which feature high inlet pressures, high sensitivity, and high speed.

Observation of a population for a sufficient number of persons over a sufficient number of years to generate incidence or mortality rates subsequent to the selection of the study group.

The number of new cases of a given disease during a given period in a specified population. It also is used for the rate at which new events occur in a defined population. It is differentiated from PREVALENCE, which refers to all cases, new or old, in the population at a given time.

Studies in which subsets of a defined population are identified. These groups may or may not be exposed to factors hypothesized to influence the probability of the occurrence of a particular disease or other outcome. Cohorts are defined populations which, as a whole, are followed in an attempt to determine distinguishing subgroup characteristics.

Any tests done on exhaled air.

Ongoing scrutiny of a population (general population, study population, target population, etc.), generally using methods distinguished by their practicability, uniformity, and frequently their rapidity, rather than by complete accuracy.

The smallest continent and an independent country, comprising six states and two territories. Its capital is Canberra.

Systematic gathering of data for a particular purpose from various sources, including questionnaires, interviews, observation, existing records, and electronic devices. The process is usually preliminary to statistical analysis of the data.

Substances that reduce the growth or reproduction of BACTERIA.

A technique of inputting two-dimensional images into a computer and then enhancing or analyzing the imagery into a form that is more useful to the human observer.

The part of CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM that is contained within the skull (CRANIUM). Arising from the NEURAL TUBE, the embryonic brain is comprised of three major parts including PROSENCEPHALON (the forebrain); MESENCEPHALON (the midbrain); and RHOMBENCEPHALON (the hindbrain). The developed brain consists of CEREBRUM; CEREBELLUM; and other structures in the BRAIN STEM.

Divisions of the year according to some regularly recurrent phenomena usually astronomical or climatic. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed)

While there isn't a specific medical definition for "North America," I can provide a geographical definition that is often used in public health and medical contexts: North America is the third largest continent by area, encompassing 23 independent states, including the United States, Canada, and Mexico, which are home to diverse populations, cultures, and ecosystems, and share common health-related challenges such as obesity, diabetes, and healthcare access disparities.

Individuals licensed to practice medicine.

The clear, viscous fluid secreted by the SALIVARY GLANDS and mucous glands of the mouth. It contains MUCINS, water, organic salts, and ptylin.

People who leave their place of residence in one country and settle in a different country.

Studies used to test etiologic hypotheses in which inferences about an exposure to putative causal factors are derived from data relating to characteristics of persons under study or to events or experiences in their past. The essential feature is that some of the persons under study have the disease or outcome of interest and their characteristics are compared with those of unaffected persons.

Evaluation undertaken to assess the results or consequences of management and procedures used in combating disease in order to determine the efficacy, effectiveness, safety, and practicability of these interventions in individual cases or series.

Tomography using radioactive emissions from injected RADIONUCLIDES and computer ALGORITHMS to reconstruct an image.

Human experimentation that is not intended to benefit the subjects on whom it is performed. Phase I drug studies (CLINICAL TRIALS, PHASE I AS TOPIC) and research involving healthy volunteers are examples of nontherapeutic human experimentation.

The degree to which individuals are inhibited or facilitated in their ability to gain entry to and to receive care and services from the health care system. Factors influencing this ability include geographic, architectural, transportational, and financial considerations, among others.

International collective of humanitarian organizations led by volunteers and guided by its Congressional Charter and the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross Movement, to provide relief to victims of disaster and help people prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies.

Part of the arm in humans and primates extending from the ELBOW to the WRIST.