*~Medical Terminology & Speech

EricJRN, MSN, RN · Aug 29, 2006

Learn the Latin, Greek and Roman roots that are commonly found in medical terms. Most textbooks have a list of them and they allow you to put the definition of a word together just by breaking down its parts. If you learn those, you won't have to learn every word from scratch.

ellieRN06 · Sep 3, 2006

Learn what you need to know for class, but I guarantee you will never use the majority of them.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Sep 4, 2006

Speech is very much like English Composition. Think of it as essays spoken out loud. Make sure you prepare some sort of outline for your speeches so that they are organized and that you follow your instructor's directions for each speech assignment. My speech teacher many years ago had colored pieces of paper taped to the walls and told us to look at them if looking at the faces of the other students made us nervous. Volunteer to get each of your speeches done and over with as soon as possible. That way you can sit back and enjoy those of the other students without worrying and building up anxiety about your own performance. If you're nervous at the beginning of the class, you're probably going to be even more nervous by the end of the class time, so get your speech finished before other students.

What you learn in medical terminology will be of use as you go into your nursing studies. I have 30 years as a registered nurse to verify this. I also taught medical terminology in a vocational program. The best way to learn all the roots, suffixes and prefixes is to put them on flash cards and memorize them. Learn the rules of combining roots, suffixes and prefixes as it will serve you well in determining definitions. While a medical terminology class is just introductory and basic information, it is nonetheless IMPORTANT information that will serve you very well when you get to the more complicated terminology in your anatomy and nursing textbooks to come later.

Here are some links I have for medical terminology that you might want to bookmark:

http://www.msjensen.gen.umn.edu/1135/med_term_activites/ - medical terminology help from the University of Minnesota - includes link to their interactive quiz program that has a medical terminology section - lots of online quizzes to help you learn medical terminology

http://www.lcsc.edu/healthocc/enable02/medterm.htm - medical terminology in a nutshell with several short quizzes - organized into sections on word roots, suffixes, prefixes, how to read a medical term, and abbreviations

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/wnor/terminologyanatplanes.htm - this really is more for someone taking anatomy, but it is medical terminology. The site the shows and tells you the anatomical planes of the body, defines terms of relation or position, defines terms of movement, and has a listing of frequently used medical terms in anatomy with their definitions. A reference you might want to print out for your anatomy notebooks.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Sep 4, 2006

Deleted. Same message as posted above.

Leopardspots85 · Sep 20, 2006

I am taking Med. Terminology right now. the book that the school gave me came with like a million flash cards. The flash cards are the only way that i can learn, plus the CD helps a ton. Just remember to start with the suffix first and the rest is easy.

squirtle · Sep 20, 2006

I completed med term last semester. I made an A, including a 100% on both my midterm and my final. I ended up coming up with a new way to study in that class and it worked so well that I have been using it in all my classes.

I set up a file in excel. I created one column that contained the word part, and then created a column with the definitions. I would hide the definition column and spend time filling it out on my own. Then of course, unhide the column and check my mistakes. I did the same thing with the abbreviations. I think that having to type the answers out and interacting with them made it easier to memorize the terms as opposed to index cards (I used those as well). There are so many ways to play around with an excel file to help you study. This works especially well for me because I am sitting at a desk all day at work, and it gives me a chance to study without having any materials out. All I need is my computer.

smattles1of2 · Sep 21, 2006

That's a great idea using excel! Thanks :)

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Sep 21, 2006

for those whose computer software may not have come with windows office package and the excel software, you can do something very similar with the word program that comes with windows. create a 2 column table using table commands which you will find on the menu bar. put your word part on one side and the definition in the other matching column. when you want to quiz yourself, place the cursor over the top of the column you want to "hide" the answers to. the cursor turns into an arrow. click it and the entire column is "selected". change the font color for the entire column to white. all your text will then be invisable, but not gone. as you go through each item, if you want to see the answer, you merely put your cursor into the answer cell, click it to select it, then click and change the font color back to black (or whatever color you like to work with, such as red as a flag to warn you that you're having problems with that particular word and definition). you can also expand the rows of these types of tables and turn them into actually printable flashcards. i posted what these sample flashcards look like and the instructions to making them on word to this post some time ago.

https://allnurses.com/forums/1481170-post14.html

i developed this method of making inexpensive flashcards when i was teaching a medical terminology class in an intercity program where the students literally had no financial resources. i used to print out the flashcards for them on plain old xerox paper and part of our class time was pasting and cutting the cards out, so they would have them to study with at home.

ChargeNurseAmy74 · Sep 22, 2006

excellent! i appreciate the advice...:heartbeat