Did taking Latin help you in becoming a nurse?

[sam3992]

I started taking Latin thinking that it would help me later if I did go in to medicine but I was wondering if its worth going on in Latin so did it really help you? Thank you so much!

[caliotter3]

I took Latin in high school at my father's suggestion for this reason, but did not really find it to be that much of a help. I think one could get more out of taking a straightforward medical terminology course instead.

[UM Review RN, ASN, RN]

Frankly, I think it'll help you more as a nurse to learn Spanish. I see a lot of ads for Spanish-speaking nurses.

[Smartferret]

I, like Caliotter3, took Latin in school at my fathers insistance. Unfortunately, the area of medicine that I became involved in was Ophthalmology. The only medical discipline that uses GREEK for its terminology. Go Figure! It did come in quite handy when on a trip to Rome, my Dad and I spent WAY to much time translating inscriptions, but it was something I'll never forget. In my pre-req sciences I could guess at quite a few meanings by looking at the Latin roots, but I also think that you would derive more benefit from a med terminology course. This way you only learn what you need to learn instead of learning one helpful root while spending hours translating Ceaser's address to the Senate.

M

P.S. Angie O'Plasty RN, I plan to use Rosetta Stone to learn Spanish after I finish school....now that would be really helpful! (Post Katrina NOLA has had a big increase in it's Spanish speaking population).

[sam3992]

Thank you all for your replies.

[midcom]

Way back in the 1960's, I took just one year of Latin because I planned to go to nursing school right out of HS. Unfortunately, life threw me a few curve balls & I didn't go until a couple years ago. However, I have never regretted taking Latin, even just that one year. It helped me with so much vocabulary, understanding words when reading or studying. I also feel that it helped me a lot with medical terminology.

That said, though, if I were to do it over again, I'd definitely choose to learn Spanish just because there are so many Spanish speaking people in our country now. Besides, both Spanish & Latin are romance languages. I imagine that Spanish would also help with learning or understanding medical roots, prefixes, & suffixes.

Dixie

[AOx1]

I took Latin and Spanish from kindergarten until I graduated high school. The Latin helped a lot for word roots and meanings. Sadly, the only actual complete word I can remember is the Latin word for farmer. Probably not helpful!

That said, investigate if you campus has a medical terminology course. This could be very helpful. I remember back to the first day in nursing school when a prof rattled off a two hour pharmacology lecture, only to have one of the students ask "What does the abbreviation 'p.o.' mean?"

[Journey_On, BSN, RN]

I took Latin from 6th grade to 11th grade, and I really enjoyed it. It helped me with my SATs and learning higher vocabulary in general. I thought it would be super helpful if I were to study medicine (which was my original plan). I don't regret one bit of it! I think it still helps me to this day, as I am learning medical terminology. Knowing Latin helps me understand the words behind the abbreviations used in health care (not entirely necessary, though).

Like others have said, Spanish might also be a good idea, seeing as though the Spanish-speaking population is growing.

[danh3190]

I took Latin all 4 years of high school almost 40 years ago:eek:.

Although I can't think of a specific way it helped me in nursing school, as above posters have said, it's helped me throughout my life just being able to understand the roots of words and being able to infer meanings. Also all the grammar analysis helped me when I studied other languages.

[mshultz]

Quoting my medical terminology book:

"As a general rule, Greek word roots are used to build words that describe a disease, condition, treatment, or diagnosis; Latin word roots are used to build words that describe anatomical structures."

Medical Terminology is a prerequisite for Pharmacology at my school. However, my Biological Aging instructor, who is an MSN, never had a medical terminology course. The fact that I had just taken a medical terminology course (which also included a study of the anatomy and physiology) prior to this gave me a considerable edge over my classmates.

I did have 2 years of Latin in high school, but that was a long time ago, back in the days of the woolly mammoth.

[Shenanigans, RN]

I took Latin in university and I found it helped me when I got stuck in science exams and they asked what something (in Latin term) was, and if I didn't know what it was, I just translated it from Latin and got the answer.

Mind you, I've forgotten most of what I learn in Latin, but can I have a conversation about puella casam intrat et cenam parat.

Yes, my gramma is just as bad in Latin as it is in English!

[goofygreyhound]

Nada, go buy a medical terminology book from Barnes and Nobles and you will be ahead of the game.