The PC medical abbreviation means after meals, from the Latin post cibum, which translates as after food. A medicine or check marked PC is timed to follow a meal rather than a fixed clock hour.
You will see it written PC, pc, p.c. or p.c without the final period (the p.c. medical abbreviation with dots is simply the older style), usually next to a frequency such as TID. Its opposite is AC, before meals, and together they appear as AC and PC in blood sugar and digestive care. This page covers what PC means for a patient, how to read it in real orders, and what makes it different from close relatives such as ACHS.
At a glance
What the PC medical abbreviation means for timing
PC links a dose to eating. The usual idea is that the medicine goes in shortly after a meal, while there is still food in the stomach. Prescribers choose this for medicines that can upset the stomach when taken alone, for medicines that are absorbed better with food, and for treatments meant to act on digestion after eating.
PC does not say how long after a meal. In practice it often means right after eating or within a short time, and a pharmacist can say how strict the timing is for a particular drug. Labels for patients usually replace the Latin shorthand with words like take after meals or take with food.
How PC reads in a real order
Orders that use PC tend to follow the familiar sequence of drug, dose, route, frequency and timing. Here is a sample, broken down.
| Piece | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Metoclopramide | Generic medicine name |
| 10 mg | Amount per dose |
| PO | Swallowed by mouth |
| TID | Three times a day |
| PC | Each dose after a meal |
So TID PC means three doses, one after breakfast, one after lunch and one after dinner. People search tid pc medical abbreviation for exactly this combination. The line is a format example only.
Glucose log in a clinic chart: "BG 2 h PC dinner 168." This means the blood sugar was checked two hours after the evening meal and read 168. After meal readings like this help diabetes teams see how a person handles food.
AC and PC compared, plus the bedtime terms
The meal timing family is small but easy to mix up on a fast read. This table puts the members side by side.
| Shorthand | Latin root | Plain timing |
|---|---|---|
| AC | ante cibum | Ahead of eating |
| PC | post cibum | Once the meal is finished |
| HS | hora somni | Near sleep |
| ACHS | Combined | Ahead of meals, plus bedtime |
| PCHS | Combined | After meals, plus bedtime |
When an ac pc medical abbreviation pairing appears in a glucose order, it usually means checks both before and after meals, so the team can compare the two values.
Other meanings of PC in medical writing
On prescriptions and medication records, PC almost always means after meals. In other notes the letters occasionally carry other meanings. Some note styles use PC for presenting complaint, the main reason a person came in, which in US charts is usually written CC for chief complaint. In oncology and urology, prostate cancer is usually written PCa with a lowercase a to keep it apart.
The surrounding words settle it. A meal timing PC sits after a dose and a frequency, while other uses appear in sentences or headings. When it is not clear, the writer or a pharmacist can confirm.
PC as a pharmacy and nursing abbreviation
For pharmacy technician students, PC is one of the timing terms translated into plain language on every label. Nursing students see it on the medication administration record, where after meals medicines are scheduled around tray times on the unit, and a missed meal may mean checking with the pharmacist or prescriber about the dose.
The prescription abbreviations section gathers the rest of the timing family.
Here the term is explained only in broad strokes. If you are unsure whether your own medicine belongs after food, check with your prescriber or pharmacist first.
Frequently asked questions
What does PC mean on a prescription?
PC means after meals. It comes from the Latin post cibum. Your label will usually say take after meals or take with food instead of the abbreviation.
What is the medical abbreviation for after meals?
The standard abbreviation is PC, also written p.c. Its partner AC means before meals.
What does TID PC mean?
TID PC means three times a day, after meals. That usually works out to a dose after breakfast, after lunch and after dinner.
How long after a meal is PC?
PC does not set an exact time. It usually means soon after eating, and the pharmacist can explain how precise the timing needs to be for a given medicine.
Is PC the same as with food?
They are close. With food often means during or right after a meal, while PC means after the meal. For many medicines the difference is small, but the label wording is the best guide.