How to study for Medical Terminology

pmabraham, BSN, RN · Nov 14, 2014

1. The difficulty level of any class is subjective to the person taking it. So any answers to questions about class/test difficulty are meaningless because of being so subjective and personal.

2. Ask your professor for a copy of the syllabus in advance; plan out your semester per https://allnurses.com/pre-nursing-student/how-get-any-846733.html Study what you need to study; stay focused.

In terms of how to study, that varies based on learning styles. Do you know how you learn best? Visual, auditory, kinetic, mixture of which ones? If visual, make flash cards and use them. If auditory, record and listen to lectures or record and listen to flash cards. Kinetic, be in action while learning which can include writing out the flashcards and being sure to ask questions from the flashcards and respond out loud. For learning medical terminology, I would encourage you to always look up the etymology of the words you are learning. Learn how to break a part a word -- prefix, root, suffix and understand the word based on common prefixes, common suffixes, and common roots.

3. Ask your professor for the book you will need to use.

https://www.coursera.org/course/clinicalterminology is a good free class on terminology. https://www.coursera.org/course/vitalsigns is another free class that while not geared towards terminology, will involve learning terminology.

By the way $650 for a medical terminology class is cheap especially if it is a three credit class. If you are going to be tested, it might pay to take the class.

Thank you.

princesama · Nov 18, 2014

Hi AllNurses peeps!

I'm excited to say that I got admitted into my schools BSN nursing program and I start this coming Spring of 2015 :up:

According to the email, we'll be tested on basic medical terminology the first week of school :nailbiting: I guess my questions are:

-Is the test going to be hard? Should I panic?

-Should I study the book from cover to cover? How should I study it?

-Which Med. Terminology book would you guys recommend? or are they all the same?

-Did you have to do this in your school?

I know I might've asked too much questions but I need your help

oh and my school actually offer a Med. Term. course over the winter intersession, but it cost about 650$ that's just too much.

Thank you!! :yes:

pmabraham, BSN, RN · Nov 18, 2014

Did you even bother to read my reply?

princesama · Nov 19, 2014

Hey abraham!

Sorry for the late reply, I did read your message and I appreciate your input! It's a test that I have to take during the first week of the semester and there's no syllabus for it. But I will go to that website you posted above.

Thank you for the advice! I am a visual and auditory learner, so yes writing it down using flash cards will help.

NurseGirl525, ASN, RN · Nov 19, 2014

Just learn the basic latin roots between now and the start of class. Med term isn't hard, it's just memorization. But it is very helpful in understanding the language. I took a medterm class 15 years ago and still remember it. It was required for any health career back then and I honestly still think it should be.

TLizS · Nov 19, 2014

I am taking medical terminology this semester in preparation for starting my nursing program....flash cards have been a lifesaver for me this semester (I also used quizlet to make online flashcards and upload them to my phone using the supercard app so that I can access them everywhere without hauling my huge ring of cards everywhere

Our text book has been very helpful for me too....it has tons of fill in the blank questions/paragraphs so you are actually APPLYING what you have learned not just repeating definitions....I think that has helped me a ton...I am great a memorizing but having to actually APPLY it makes you really UNDERSTAND what you are learning

http://www.amazon.com/Building-Medical-Vocabulary-Spanish-Translations/dp/1437727840

that is the book we use for class

Spangle Brown · Nov 19, 2014

You can teach yourself. Get the book and start from the front and go. Be thankful you don't have to show credit for it. But you still need to learn it. As Heathermaizey has stated, it's basicly lation roots, etc.

mommy2anangel · Nov 20, 2014

I actually teach medical terminology to high school students who have decided to pursue a health career. One of the best resources I have found is called quizlet.com. I wish I had known about it when I was going to school. You can make your own digital note cards or use some that someone else has already prepared. Type in Medical Terminology into the search bar and it will bring up all kinds of cards that have already been prepared. You can use them like regular flash cards on your computer or your smart phone. You can also play games with them to help you if you are a hands on learner. The Dean Vaughn Medical Terminology series is popular and a lot of people have already prepared cards for this series so you could start there. It teaches you 300 of the most common med terms. I agree with the previous posters in that it really is just memorization and the more you practice, the better you get.

mindofmidwifery, ADN · Nov 20, 2014

I have to learn advanced medical terminology for job training and plan on using my flashcard app to study. Basic medical terminology is simple and most words you either would know or can figure out based off root words.