1 What is Medical Semiotics? / ¿Qué es la Semiótica Médica? Dr John Tredinnick-Rowe 1 Abstract/ Resumen This paper attempts to provide insight into a basic question, what is Medical Semiotics? Semiotics as a subject has been applied to many areas of work ranging from Art, Biology, Education, Music, and Zoology to name just a few. However the medical side of semiotics, despite having an intricate connection to the origins of semiotics itself has not drawn as much attention as other disciplines within the science of signs. This paper starts by giving an overview of the historical foundations of Medical Semiotics, it use in 18 th and 19 th century European Pathology, Diagnostics and Nosology. Which is followed by examples of contemporary literature on the subject, and concludes with hypotheses on where the discipline may yet go. It is the author’s assertion that Medical Semiotics has a long and important history, which is often over looked both in medicine and also in semiotics. And if the discipline is going to continue to exist it will have to incorporate both theory and practice into its descriptions of pathology and diagnosis. Keywords / Palabras claves Medical semiotics, semiotics, hospital semiotics, history of diagnosis Introduction This paper attempts to provide insight into a basic question, what is Medical Semiotics? Semiotic as subject has been applied to many areas of work ranging from Biology (Biosemiotcs), Zoology (Zoösemiotics), Ethics (Semioethics), Education (Edusemiotics) 1 Collaboration for the Advancement of Medical Education Research & Assessment (CAMERA), Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine & Dentistry, Plymouth, United Kingdom. john.tredinnick- rowe@plymouth.ac.uk, this work was self-funded.