How to get an A in medical terminology course? (Merced College)

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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Hello, I was wondering if any of you have taken a medical terminology course and managed to get an A. My sister took it a few semesters ago and got a B. She said it was hard. I'm no straight-A student, but is it possible for me to get an A? Even if I don't, what tips and advice do you have for me? I will need all the help I can get.

IF you took it at Merced College, then my instructor is Provencio. I don't plan on purchasing the textbook. I will probably check it out at the library when I need to study and do homework. Based on the syllabus, homework and the exams are worth a lot of points. They are worth 20-50% of the grade.

Thank you!

Thank you all for your advice and suggestions! I'll do whatever I can to do well in this class :)

*EDIT: BTW after a class session, should I be reviewing what I have learned to make sure I know it and keep studying it as I begin learning more new materials? Each class session we are going to focus on one chapter, so how should I keep up with memorizing? Just focus on memorizing one chapter and just memorize the next chapter while forgetting the previous chapter or continuously going over the old materials as I learn a new chapter? I think it depends on how well I memorize.

Med term is just pure memorization... I would look that teacher up on a rating website. If she's hard or has bad ratings, I would choose another teacher, to make the class easier.

I love ratemyprofessors. My SOC 101 Professor is the one who introduced me to it and asked me to rate her. She was a total rockstar!

The best way to learn terminology-- and to prepare for new terms you'll encounter later-- is to pay attention to the DERIVATION of the words. Most are from Latin or Greek, but there are a lot of German and French ones too.

This doesn't mean you have to learn all there is to know about these four languages, but you need to notice the common roots and remember them for what they are. Here are some examples:

ase .... this should make you think "Enzyme!" amylase, kinase ...

ose .... "Aha! Sugar!" sucrose, dextrose, fructose, lactulose....

gly ... sugar (yep, sometimes there are two or more)

eu ... "Best, normal!" euthanasia, euthyroid ...

(h)emia/(h)emic ... pertaining to blood

hyper/hypo ... increased, high/decreased, low ... hyperthyroid, hypothyroid; hyperglycemic, hypoglycemic

aur ... hearing, ear

oro ... mouth, oral

osteo ... bone

derm ... skin

myo ... muscle

itis .... inflammation

osis ... a condition (this last is why it annoys me when I hear about "senioritis" as if it meant "the condition of being a senior, burnt out, slacking off" when what they mean is "seniorosis." "Senioritis" would be "an inflamed senior.")

See how that works? A good textbook should tell you all these and make it easier to retain them.

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