These two words are used interchangeably and wrongly by too many people. We simply have to end the insanity today—and you can help! (Thank you—I feel better….)

A stint usually refers to a specific period of time dedicated to a specific action. For instance, “I did a stint as a hospital technician back in 2022.” Think “I did a stretch as…” or “I did a turn as a go-fer at that company when I was in college.” That’s a stint.

A stent, on the other hand (or in the other artery) is a mesh medical device for keeping bodily tubes open. They put stents in people who have blocked arteries to increase blood flow.

So unless someone gets shrunk down to Incredible Shrinking Man size and is implanted in someone’s artery for a temporary job, we can’t say that there’s a stint in there. If arterial health is the goal, that would be a stent.

Bottom line: Stints are what we have spent some time doing; stents go inside people.