kliiniline

Kliiniline is an Estonian adjective used to describe matters related to the direct care of patients, i.e., the clinical aspects of medicine. It denotes activities, settings, and knowledge that arise in patient encounters in healthcare facilities such as hospitals and clinics. The term is commonly contrasted with laboratory, preclinical, or theoretical work, which is not performed at the patient’s bedside.

The etymology traces the same root as the English "clinical," derived from Late Latin clinicus and ultimately from Greek klinikos, meaning "bedside" or "pertaining to a clinic."

In practice, kliiniline is used in phrases such as kliiniline praktika (clinical practice), kliiniline diagnostika (clinical diagnosis), kliiniline uuring (clinical trial or clinical study), and kliiniline hindamine (clinical assessment). It also appears in subfields like kliiniline farmakoloogia (clinical pharmacology) and kliiniline psühholoogia (clinical psychology). The term anchors medical activities in real patient care and outcomes, distinguishing them from laboratory research and animal studies.

Ethical and methodological standards in kliiniline work emphasize patient safety, informed consent, and regulatory oversight, particularly in kliiniline uuring or clinical trials, where collaboration with ethics committees and guided protocols is essential.