医院(いいん)

医院(いいん) refers to a small private clinic, typically run by a single doctor or a small group. Composed of 医(い) (medicine) + 院(いん) (institution).

COMMON TYPES:

• 内科(ないか)医院(いいん): internal medicine clinic
• 歯科(しか)医院(いいん): dental clinic
• 眼科(がんか)医院(いいん): eye clinic
• 皮膚科(ひふか)医院(いいん): dermatology clinic
• 小児科(しょうにか)医院(いいん): pediatric clinic

SIMILAR WORDS:

• 医院(いいん): small private clinic (often a single doctor)
• クリニック: clinic (loanword, same scale as 医院(いいん))
• 病院(びょういん): hospital (larger facility with multiple departments, beds for inpatients)
• 診療所(しんりょうじょ): medical office/clinic (official term, often used in government/legal contexts)

In practice, 医院(いいん) and クリニック are nearly interchangeable. Many clinics use one or the other in their name.