Patient Rights Treatment Decisions & Safety How to Read Your Physician's Prescription By Michael Bihari, MD Michael Bihari, MD, is a board-certified pediatrician, health educator, and medical writer, and president emeritus of the Community Health Center of Cape Cod. Learn about our editorial process Michael Bihari, MD Fact checked by Fact checked by Elaine Hinzey, RD on March 20, 2020 linkedin Elaine Hinzey is a fact checker, writer, researcher, and registered dietitian. Learn about our editorial process Elaine Hinzey, RD Updated on March 20, 2020 Print To the untrained eye, prescriptions can be pretty hard to decipher. The various notations used on prescriptions have very specific meanings. Let's consider a hypothetical prescription for penicillin written as follows: Rx Pen VK 250/ml 1 bottle iiss ml qid X 7d Here is what the notation on this prescription means: The medication is Penicillin VK and your doctor ordered one 250 milliliter (ml) bottle, which is about 8 ounces. The "ii" means 2 and "ss" means 1/2 which translates to 2 1/2 ml, or 1/2 teaspoon. The qidX7d means 4 times each day for 7 days. Using the information noted on this prescription, the pharmacist will provide a bottle of Penicillin VK with label directions indicating that 1/2 teaspoon of the medication should be taken four times each day for seven days. Jamie Grill / Getty Images It is important to learn how to decipher your physician’s prescription. Doing so will help you avoid a medication error and give you better insight into your treatment. You can always ask your pharmacist to interpret a prescription for you. Physicians may use various abbreviations combining Latin and English, and your pharmacist may be familiar with your physician's style. Other Notations Found on Prescriptions Here are some other notations commonly found on prescriptions: PO means orally QD means once a day BID means twice a day QHS means before bed Q4H means every 4 hours QOD means every other day PRN means as needed q.t.t. means drops OD means in the right eye (think eye drops) OS means in the left eye (think eye drops) OU means in both eyes (think eye drops) a.c. means before a meal p.c. means after a meal IM means intramuscularly (injection) Subq means subcutaneous (injection) IV means intravenous (injection) You may see a symbol on your script that looks like a "T" with a dot at the top of it. This abbreviation means one pill. There may be one to 4 Ts with dots at the top of them signifying one to 4 pills. On a final note, if you ever have a question about notation made on a prescription please feel free to ask your physician or pharmacist. Please keep in mind that pharmacists are skilled healthcare professionals who are very able to answer your questions regarding medication dosages, effects, and adverse effects. You have a right to be involved and be informed in all aspects of your medical care including understanding what's written on your prescriptions. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Sign up for our Health Tip of the Day newsletter, and receive daily tips that will help you live your healthiest life. Sign Up You're in! Thank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. What are your concerns? Other Inaccurate Hard to Understand Submit Article Sources Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Minnesota.gov. Partial list of prescription abbreviations. University of Minnesota. Prescription abbreviations. American Medical Association. Patient rights.