If you find it frustrating that the default Microsoft Word dictionary doesn't recognize the medical terms you use every day, there's a simple way to make the spelling checker work for your specific needs. Just customize your Word dictionary so that the default dictionary points to Stedman's Medical Dictionary or another medical terms list that you want to use.

Word has simplified the way you work with custom dictionaries, so that you can set up your custom word list right from within Word and even assign different languages to it.

Change the default custom dictionary

The default custom dictionary that you specify in Word is the one that words are added to when you select Add to Dictionary during a spelling check. If you use one custom dictionary more than others, you can quickly make it the default dictionary right from within the Custom Dictionaries dialog box:

1. On the Tools menu, point to Options, and then click the Spelling and Grammar tab.
2. Click Custom Dictionaries.
3. If you want to add a new custom dictionary, click Add.
4. Select the dictionary you want to use as your default, and then click OK. (This assumes that you've already added, for example, Stedman's Medical Dictionary to your computer.)

Make changes to the dictionary right from within Word

In previous versions of Word, you had to open a separate text editor, such as Notepad, to work with custom dictionary content. In Word, you don't have to leave your document environment to make changes to your custom dictionaries. Instead, you use the simple, streamlined Custom Dictionaries dialog box that's available from within Word:

1. On the Tools menu, point to Options, and then click the Spelling and Grammar tab.
2. Click Custom Dictionaries.
3. Select the dictionary you want to change in the Custom Dictionaries dialog box, and then click Modify.

Organize your custom dictionaries by language

When you create or install a custom dictionary, you can associate a particular language with it. This way, Word will use the dictionary to check the spelling only in that language. If you associate a language with a custom dictionary, all of your dictionaries will be grouped by language in the Custom Dictionaries dialog box. This makes it easy to locate them and to switch between them.