Medical Terminology Overview

Study Notes

Medical Terminology Lecture Notes

Medical terminology is the study of words related to body systems, anatomy, medical procedures, diagnosis, and diseases.
It helps healthcare professionals communicate effectively.
Studying medical terms aids communication among healthcare team members (nurses, dentists, etc.).
Learning medical terminology is like learning a new language, rooted mainly in Latin.
Medical terms can be broken down into components for easier understanding.
The medical term has three main parts: word root, suffix, prefix.
- Word root: The core of a word (e.g., hepat in hepatitis).
- Suffix: The ending of a word; it alters the meaning (e.g., -itis in hepatitis).
- Prefix: It is at the beginning of the word that modifies or changes the root meaning (e.g., sub in sublingual).
Combining vowels (usually 'o') connect the root to suffixes or other roots.
Examples: hematology (study of blood), thermometer (instrument to measure temperature), cardiology (study of the heart).
Further examples: electrocardiogram, gastroenterology, colonoscopy, gastritis.
Rules for combining vowels:
- Keep the combining vowel between two roots (electrocardiogram).
- Keep the combining vowel when combining root and suffix that starts with a consonant (colonoscopy).
- Delete the combining vowel when combining with a suffix that begins with a vowel (gastritis).
Prefixes: These are word parts added to the beginning of words to modify the meanings (e.g., sub- below, intra- within).
- Additional examples: sublingual, periosteal, ectodermal, endocrine.
Suffixes: These are word parts added to the end of a word to modify meaning.
- Additional examples: -itis (inflammation), -ectomy (excision), -algia (pain), -scopy (visual examination).
Combining forms are word roots plus combining vowels.
Examples: hepat/o (liver), pancreat/o (pancreas), splen/o (spleen).
Examples of noun suffixes: -algia, -cele, -centesis, -cyte, -dynia, -ectomy, -emia, -gram, -itis, -logy, -lysis, -megaly, -oma, -opsy, -pathy, -penia, -phobia, -plasty, -sclerosis, -scopy, -stomy, -therapy, -tomy.
Additional example suffixes: -er, -ia, -ist, -ole, -ule
Some suffixes start with consonants such as: -tomy, -scopy, -centesis
Other suffixes start with vowels as: -itis, -oma, -osis.
Additional details on systems of the human body (Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Digestive, Urinary, Nervous, Endocrine, Female Reproductive) along with details of specific organs in the human body
Detailed examples of pathologies and symptoms of each organ system are included in the notes.