Warm-Up

What medical terms or word parts do you know?

Do you know of any songs or other fun memory tricks for learning this type of information?

Study Skills: Memory Techniques

• Mnemonic Device - A Learning tool that helps students memorize information

  • Can be used to remember information

  • Connect different information to different senses

• Basic Memory Techniques

  • Acronyms

  • Spelling Sequence

  • Vivid/unusual images

  • Rhythm/Rhyming

  • Drama/Humor

Medical Terminology

Healthcare workers must know how to read, write, and understand medical terminology

• Examples:

  • Cardiology

  • Root: Cardi/o = heart

  • Suffix: -logy = study of

  • Definition: study of the Heart
    

• Examples:

  • Rhinoplasty

  • Root: Rhin/o = nose

  • Suffix: -plasty =surgical repair

  • Definition: Surgical repair of the nose
    

​Knowing individual word parts helps healthcare providers read and understand medical information!

Understanding Word Parts

• A medical term is usually a combination of several word parts, like a train with with many types of boxcars connected together.

• Breaking down terms into their various word parts will allow you to define many more terms than you could possibly memorize by studying them as whole words.

• ​Root Word

  • foundation of the medical term

• Prefix

  • at the beginning of a word (may tell you size, shape, color, position, or amount)

• Suffix

  • at the end of a word (tells you what is being done to the root

Abbreviations

Shortened way to write or say medical words and phrases. This improves efficiency and communication.

• Different facilities have different abbreviations

• Never invent your own abbreviations

• Examples:

  • BP = blood pressure

  • CPR = cardiopulmonary resuscitation

  • Pt or pt = patient

  • PT = physical therapy

Think Further...

Why is it important for healthcare professionals to study medical terminology? What makes medical terms different from other English words?

Examples:

• One letter can change the entire meaning of a body part or drug name.

• Misspelling a medical term can create confusion and may result in an incorrect diagnosis or procedure.

• You cannot rely on a computer to find your errors because spell-checkers may not recognize medical terminology.