Medical Terminology Hell!!!!!

Andi33 · Jun 8, 2005

Ok this is a joke right???? Granted this is only my second class. We are on chapter 3 and already we have hundreds of root words, prefixes and suffixes. I have been studying for hours but when I self test, I am still missing questions. I have written the terms down 10 times each and say them out loud. Next to each term I am writitng a full word so I can relate to it in a sentance. Im just not retaining this!!!! I dont think our instructor is very good. He normally teaches massage therapy. We break every 1/2 hour.....he goes off on tangents, then says, "but that wont be on your test". So why are we wasting valuable time discussing non med term things????? Classes are only 3 hours a night three nights a week. I dont know if I should reduce my hours at work to allow for more study time......Ive been at it for 4 hours now and am still forgetting!!!! Im thinking if I cant get through med term, how will I ever do the LPN program???? Ill check back later to see if anyone has advice. We have a quiz tomorrow and I havent even touched on the planes of the body.........

I hear you! Medical terminology can be a tough course requiring lots of memorization. As you go through each chapter, you will get better at it! I studied everynight after work and kept going over all the terms. You might want to make some flash cards with the root words and what they mean. This class will teach you so much, though not many posters here agree. In some schools it is not a requirement. It was at my school and even though I thought I knew alot of the terms, I was suprised how many there are that I didn't know. But if you are not familiar with medical terms, this will lay the foundation for you. Hang in there! You'll make it! :)

tanaynicole · Jun 8, 2005

Terminology is a great background course, but dont beat your self up if you don't retain everything. You will be suprised of how much will come back to you when you really need it.

I've heard of people making audio tapes of roots/prefixes and meanings to listen to while driving or what ever. You may just have a bad teacher some times that makes all the difference.

Take a deep breath, things will work out just fine

Good Luck

montinurse, BSN · Jun 9, 2005

What's your homework like in the course? I just finished Med Term with an A, and the homework reeaallly helped me. I would study an hour or two straight right before the test, and we tested every wednesday. The homework was VERY repetitious, that's what helped me retain everything. I was very overwhelmed just like yourself the first few weeks. You can do it, it gets easier (or you learn to memorize fast) in the first few weeks. It will come to you. As for the LPN classes, I start in August, so I can't tell you how hard they are. Everyone has told me how tough a year it's going to be. I can't wait! HTH and good luck and don't give up!, Jenny

PeepnBiscuitsRN · Jun 9, 2005

Blergh! I took MT as an independant study. Had about umpty million flashcards too. I don't know how I got through it but I did. And if I can do it indie study you can too.

As for your prof, I have had teachers like that! GADS they irritate the snot out of me! Oh man, I had an english comp teacher that really just was a fluffhead and I couldn't stand her. That's something I cannot help you with other than to say hang in there. Maybe as him/her to clarify what WILL be on the test, or ask for tips from him/her on how to do well. For me it was the flash cards. Carrying around about 30-50 of them at work etc... just pull them out and do it.

Good luck, now I feel the urge to go get said cards! :balloons:

CashewLPN, LPN · Jun 9, 2005

hi... medical terminology usually, at least to me, meant very little until I got to use it in practice.... Like for the longest time, I couldnt remember what a cholecystectomy was... now, through use, (very repetitive use actually...) we automatically break it down...

I suggest not going all crazy... learn your major roots, and break down the words as you go...

Chole-Cyst-ectomy.... like that...

Hope that helps...

--Cashew

jabrimama · Jun 10, 2005

OMG, I thought it was just me!! I just finished my Med Term class. I didn't get the book till about 3 weeks ago and until then I had been making flash cards, using online resources and I took this class online. On my final today I got a 76 which is pretty good considering I didn't have my book till recently. I ended up with a C in the class and haven't decided whether I should take it over again. Any advice? Should I take it again? I was thinking of meeting with my advisiors but I am pretty sure they will probably advise me to take it again.

I do have to admit I have retained quite a bit and it should help me in Anatomy in Summer quarter. Those flash cards are valuable. I even have my 9 year old interested into Medicine.

Gerusha · Jun 10, 2005

Ok this is a joke right???? Granted this is only my second class. We are on chapter 3 and already we have hundreds of root words, prefixes and suffixes. I have been studying for hours but when I self test, I am still missing questions. I have written the terms down 10 times each and say them out loud. Next to each term I am writitng a full word so I can relate to it in a sentance. Im just not retaining this!!!! I dont think our instructor is very good. He normally teaches massage therapy. We break every 1/2 hour.....he goes off on tangents, then says, "but that wont be on your test". So why are we wasting valuable time discussing non med term things????? Classes are only 3 hours a night three nights a week. I dont know if I should reduce my hours at work to allow for more study time......Ive been at it for 4 hours now and am still forgetting!!!! Im thinking if I cant get through med term, how will I ever do the LPN program???? Ill check back later to see if anyone has advice. We have a quiz tomorrow and I havent even touched on the planes of the body.........

http://ec.hku.hk/mt/ :)

ChristinaV · Jun 10, 2005

Thank you all for the support, advice and vote of confidence. The flash cards have helped greatly. Last night I self tested on 80 root words, prefixes and suffixes and only got 2 wrong!!! I have accepted that I need to show up for class and learn to filter through the crap I dont need, like my teachers views on childrearing......and do my studying and real learning at home. We have a three chapter test tomorrow and you wouldnt believe the people who havent even cracked the book! So I guess Im doing alright :) I think I panicked when I saw all of the biology, body planes and cavities, cell formation etc. I thought it was just "terminology". As someone said, each chapter has many terms that I learned previously and although we HAVE NO homework, I am doing all of the excersises in the text book. The repetition helps alot. Anyone else who is going through this course......"Lets just do it!!!!!" We can, if we want it bad enough. Oh....my teacher also told me I was "over studying" saying the text has alot of useless info, but he couldnt narrow it down for me. Im sticking to med terms and anything highlighted. We'll see how I do tomorrow! Thanks again!!!!!

Regina66 · Jun 18, 2005

Thank you all for the support, advice and vote of confidence. The flash cards have helped greatly. Last night I self tested on 80 root words, prefixes and suffixes and only got 2 wrong!!! I have accepted that I need to show up for class and learn to filter through the crap I dont need, like my teachers views on childrearing......and do my studying and real learning at home. We have a three chapter test tomorrow and you wouldnt believe the people who havent even cracked the book! So I guess Im doing alright :) I think I panicked when I saw all of the biology, body planes and cavities, cell formation etc. I thought it was just "terminology". As someone said, each chapter has many terms that I learned previously and although we HAVE NO homework, I am doing all of the excersises in the text book. The repetition helps alot. Anyone else who is going through this course......"Lets just do it!!!!!" We can, if we want it bad enough. Oh....my teacher also told me I was "over studying" saying the text has alot of useless info, but he couldnt narrow it down for me. Im sticking to med terms and anything highlighted. We'll see how I do tomorrow! Thanks again!!!!!

Well? What happened? Did you pass?

soontobe_RN · Jun 21, 2005

ok this is a joke right???? granted this is only my second class. we are on chapter 3 and already we have hundreds of root words, prefixes and suffixes. i have been studying for hours but when i self test, i am still missing questions. i have written the terms down 10 times each and say them out loud. next to each term i am writitng a full word so i can relate to it in a sentance. im just not retaining this!!!! i dont think our instructor is very good. he normally teaches massage therapy. we break every 1/2 hour.....he goes off on tangents, then says, "but that wont be on your test". so why are we wasting valuable time discussing non med term things????? classes are only 3 hours a night three nights a week. i dont know if i should reduce my hours at work to allow for more study time......ive been at it for 4 hours now and am still forgetting!!!! im thinking if i cant get through med term, how will i ever do the lpn program???? ill check back later to see if anyone has advice. we have a quiz tomorrow and i havent even touched on the planes of the body.........

hang in there!!! :) once you do get the suffixes, prefixes, and roots down, you'll find this class a lot easier. i know b/c i am taking med. terminology, this summer, too.

i felt the same way you do now. what helped me was using flash cards, testing myself, and recording the words on a recorder, then playing them back to myself over and over and over. my class is a telecourse, so, i don't have to worry about sitting in a class with a bad instructor. with video i can fast forward through the parts where she just rambles on, and she does ramble :chuckle . what book are you using? does it have practice questions in the back? those helped me a lot. pm me and maybe we can help each other through this course. :)

another thing that helps me is looking at the word (suffixe, prefixe, whatever..) and finding something in the word that would help me remember it. for example: -tripsy- i would think of tripping, then falling and crushing something; and as we know -tripsy means crushing. i know it sounds silly, but whatever works, right? so far, i have had 3 exams and got a's on all of them. please let me know if i can be of any help. people on allnurses.com helped me in the begining, too.

ChristinaV · Jun 22, 2005

Hello!!!! I have acquired a computer virus that I cant get rid of (backdoorcfb?) sometimes I can sign on and sometimes I cant, but here I am. Anyway......med term has been extremely interesting to say the least. I have learned that in this particular class I had to find my own way and am doing well. Test scores have been 88,98,100 and last night a 95. I do use flash cards, make myself tests and during muskuloskeletal, even drew myself little pictures of the internal structure of bones so I could "see" what it was I needed to remember :chuckle . Alot of folks in my class arent doing real well so I am grateful that I found a way around our flighty instructor. He goes off on tangents about something for half an hour and then tells us not to worry about the information because its not relevant to med term. This, after I took pages of notes! So I go through my text, take notes on anything highlighed or term related, make my index cards with additional info on the back just to know, and make myself a final exam as I go along.

Soontobe RN, you are so right about looking for clues in a word I think I dont know. Last night our test was on cardiovascular and I studied my butt off. However it was a large chapter that we went over in class on MOnday, then were tested on Tuesday night. Not much study time! So the teacher told us what was important and what not to worry about for the test, such as medical procedures and tests. I self tested and felt confident, knew all the medical terminology, pathology, disease conditions. When we got our test and opened the first page we all kind of not so silently gasped! Yup, test procedures, surgical procedures........things we didnt study. Some of it was luck but some of it I was able to figure out by the root words and suffixes. I got a 95. I will never however trust that teacher again, and will study evrything! The text we use is called The Language Of Medicine by Davi-Ellen Chabner.

Good luck to you too Soontobe and thanks to everyone for the help and support. The funny part in all this is that I think my partner knows almost as much as I do now! We make up quirky little ways to remember terms and have fun with it! The first week we were grocery shopping and all these words kept jumping out at me screaming to be disected and Ive been picking apart words ever since. Hope this condition goes away :rotfl:

If I can help anyone else please feel free to contact me. Hopefully I can get rid of this virus or my computer will have to go in the shop. Have a great day!!!!

Christina~