First, you must really understand why knowing medical terminology is ultra important. Knowing medical terms gives healthcare professionals a common language when it comes to treating and diagnosing patients. Medical terms are always expanding and changing, but many terms keep their original Greek or Latin word parts that have been used for hundreds or even thousands of years.
Learn what the different parts of medical terms mean. It can be quite difficult to remember all of the medical terms that are out there, but if you study the roots, prefixes and suffixes and what they mean, you will gain a better understanding of the terms themselves. This will make learning medical terminology easier and simpler to remember. This way, you're only learning parts of words, instead of hundreds of different meanings of words.
Try to understand the roots of medical terms. The root of a word is the base and core of its true meaning. The beginning or middle of a word is recognized as the root. In some instances, a word could have more than one root. For instance, the term osteoarthropathy, the roots are osteo and arthr. Once you have a good understanding of word roots, you will be able to decipher words easily.
Know the different between suffixes and prefixes. The prefix portion of a word is located at the beginning of words. The suffix comes at the end of a word. Both of them can be used to identify and modify the meaning of terminology. For instance, the word intravenous; ''intra'', which is a prefix that means ''within''; ''Ven'' means ''vein'' and ''ous'' meanins ''pertaining to''. Now, when you put it all together, the word intravenous means pertaining to within the vein.
The vowels of medical terminology should also be taken into account. When combining vowels, it makes the words easier to say. Most of the time, you will come across ''o'', which will be located in between the root and suffix. The vowel doesn't have any specific meanings; it just acts as a conjunction between the two parts of the word. For instance, the word pathology is a great example. Path is the root and logy is the suffix.
You will need to learn to analyze the medical terms. Through analyzing, you will be able to quickly define different terminology. If you come across a term that you have never seen, but you know the root or suffix, it will be easier to try to define it. For instance, take the word lapar-o-scopy. As a medical assistant, you know the root lapar mean abdominal cavity. Then the suffix, scopy, means visual examination. Now, you are able to define the term as meaning visual examination of the abdominal cavity.
You should keep in mind that you will have to memorize some of the medical terms that you learn. Some terminology is built from word parts, so you will have to remember the word and its definition. Like with the word benign (meaning not malignant), which is made up of different word parts.
