DODD Medication Pass Certification Practice Exam

Understanding routes of administration abbreviations. For mouth administration, the abbreviation is PO, which stands for per os, meaning by mouth. This is used to indicate oral tablets, capsules, or liquids that are swallowed. The other common routes have different abbreviations: IV denotes intravenous delivery through a vein, IM is intramuscular injection into muscle, and SL means sublingual—placed under the tongue for absorption. So PO specifically identifies medications taken by mouth.