second opinion

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

the practice of seeking evaluation from a second independent expert — in medicine, a second physician or specialist — to confirm, challenge, or supplement the assessment provided by the first; seeking a second opinion is widely recognised as a patient right and is particularly important for serious diagnoses, proposed major surgery, or situations where the recommended treatment carries significant risks or involves significant uncertainty; second opinions can reveal diagnostic errors, provide reassurance that the initial recommendation was correct, identify alternative treatment approaches the first clinician did not consider, or confirm that a proposed intervention is unnecessary; in broader usage, seeking a second opinion means consulting another source of advice or judgment when an important decision depends on the accuracy of an assessment