Nursing Students... Did you take....

[luvmy3kids]

....Medical Terminology prior to Nursing School?? I have 3 more courses to take before I can apply and then I'm off for a year. I was thinking of taking an online Medical Terminology class to fill in the time space and I thought it would be beneficial to me. It is not a requirement for our nursing program.

I'm just curious of those who had to take it for the program, (or chose to take it on your own), if you thought it was beneficial for you, and those who didn't take it... do you wish you would have???

Thanks for your insight and help!!

[luvmy3kids]

It would cost me $432.00 plus the cost of books and a 10.00 online fee... it is a 3 credit course and our tuition is 144.00 per credit.

So while it is a bit high... at least I would be getting credit for it and if I got a good grade it would even boost my GPA.

I'll have to look into some of the online options.

Thanks again everyone, for all of your input!!

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

luvmy3kids. . .i took a medical terminology class before starting my rn program and since, i've taught medical terminology for a medical assisting program. i don't think it's necessary. if you have the time and, most importantly, the money to spend on the tuition for this kind of class, then go ahead. however, most medical terminology classes are just very basic terms. believe me, when you get to your nursing classes, you are still going to need to have a medical dictionary by your side every time you sit down to read your nursing textbooks. the one thing of value that you will get from any medical terminology class is how medical terms are put together: prefixes, word roots and suffixes. this part of the course can be learned in one lecture. once you learn how medical terms are assembled you can often figure out the meanings of words by picking them apart into their prefix, word root and suffix. the back appendix of taber's cyclopedic dictionary has several pages of medical word roots and their meanings. when i taught this class i had all the prefixes, word roots and suffixes for the class alphabetized in a file. the final exam was every one of them just jumbled up into groups of five (matching questions).

here a couple of links to online medical terminology:

http://www.dmu.edu/medterms/welcome.htm - online medical terminology course

http://www.training.seer.cancer.gov/module_cancer_terminology/unit01_sec01.html - a basic medical terminology course. click on the arrows on the top menu bar to move through the program

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://wps.prenhall.com/chet_rice_terminolog_2/0,4681,198650-,00.html - this is the companion website self study resource for terminology of health and medicine by jane rice. there is a dropdown box just under the top banner that will give you access to the various chapters of the course. clicking on the individual chapters takes you to a page of objectives. however, on the left side of each page are links to multiple choice, t/f, labeling, fill in the blank and essay questions for that chapter along with a link to a glossary of medical terms. the labeling includes basic anatomy structures to be labeled.

http://www.sweethaven.com/free-ed/healthcare/medterm-v02.asp

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/wnor/terminologyanatplanes.htm - this really is more for someone taking anatomy, but it is medical terminology. this site 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. there are links at the bottom of the page. this is only one page in an anatomy site maintained by a former anatomy professor from georgetown university.

[june-pearl]

Thank you so much, Daytonite!! Very helpful. Glad I checked out this thread.

[robpritc]

Hi, I'm not in school yet, but I work at home as a medical transcriptionist. The medical terminology class I had to take has helped me tremendously in understanding what the doctors are saying (and figuring out what they mean). I can only imagine that it would also be a huge benefit for a future nurse, especially now, while you have the extra time.

Robin

[luvmy3kids]

luvmy3kids. . .i took a medical terminology class before starting my rn program and since, i've taught medical terminology for a medical assisting program. i don't think it's necessary. if you have the time and, most importantly, the money to spend on the tuition for this kind of class, then go ahead. however, most medical terminology classes are just very basic terms. believe me, when you get to your nursing classes, you are still going to need to have a medical dictionary by your side every time you sit down to read your nursing textbooks. the one thing of value that you will get from any medical terminology class is how medical terms are put together: prefixes, word roots and suffixes. this part of the course can be learned in one lecture. once you learn how medical terms are assembled you can often figure out the meanings of words by picking them apart into their prefix, word root and suffix. the back appendix of taber's cyclopedic dictionary has several pages of medical word roots and their meanings. when i taught this class i had all the prefixes, word roots and suffixes for the class alphabetized in a file. the final exam was every one of them just jumbled up into groups of five (matching questions).

here a couple of links to online medical terminology:

http://www.dmu.edu/medterms/welcome.htm - online medical terminology course

http://www.training.seer.cancer.gov/module_cancer_terminology/unit01_sec01.html - a basic medical terminology course. click on the arrows on the top menu bar to move through the program

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://wps.prenhall.com/chet_rice_terminolog_2/0,4681,198650-,00.html - this is the companion website self study resource for terminology of health and medicine by jane rice. there is a dropdown box just under the top banner that will give you access to the various chapters of the course. clicking on the individual chapters takes you to a page of objectives. however, on the left side of each page are links to multiple choice, t/f, labeling, fill in the blank and essay questions for that chapter along with a link to a glossary of medical terms. the labeling includes basic anatomy structures to be labeled.

http://www.sweethaven.com/free-ed/healthcare/medterm-v02.asp

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/wnor/terminologyanatplanes.htm - this really is more for someone taking anatomy, but it is medical terminology. this site 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. there are links at the bottom of the page. this is only one page in an anatomy site maintained by a former anatomy professor from georgetown university.

thanks daytonite! you are the best!

[Ayvah, RN]

Whatever way you go about it, learning basic medical terminology is very helpful. I took the course along with other pre reqs and I think it should be included as a prereq course for nursing. Was extremely helpful to me, as I could decipher what some new words meant based on my class. While other people had to take the extra time to figure out terminology, I had that part down already.

[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

Thank you all! I think I'll take it... it will cost about $500.00 for the course, but it seems as though it will be worth it... I'll take all the help I can get!

I agree that that seems insane...you can buy self-guided, self-study texts for about thirty to fifty bucks at Barnes and Noble. That's what I did - it taught the basic roots, prefixes, and suffixes. So far I've not had any problems. Anything I don't know, I look it up if I have my PDA with me (my PDA with all the software barely cost $500!!), and if it's not in there or my PDA is not with me, I just write it down and look it up as soon as I can.

[doubleplay]

I was going to take the class, until they changed our requirements. I would suggest taking it, but not for $500. Would it be possible to just buy the book for the course and self study? I think you could study this on your own, unless you could use the "A" for your GPA.

[happynewLPN]

Med Term is a prerequisite for our program, and I do find that it was helpful having the information. Amazing how you can pick apart a medical word after you take this class.

[boat]

Hi,

I just took a medical terminology class, it was only one credit at my local community college and only 7 weeks long. The book was very helpful, I really learned a lot. Maybe you could take it at a cc and it would be cheaper?

[Seven, RN2b]

I'm 65% of the way through an on-line medical terminology course. The tuition/book/cds combined were about 1/2 of what you are considering. I'm currently taking two pre-req courses on-line and have been impressed with the curriculum and the instructors. If you're interested in more info - send me a PM.

Good Luck!

[blueberrybon]

It was required prior to our LPN classes.

I loved it, and would highly recommend taking whatever class you can.

Learning the way root words combine with suffixes (among other things) was fascinating. But then I loved spelling, grammar, and english in school.

But here is a very small example: itis is a suffix meaning inflammation. So you know bronchitis, meningitis, esophogitis, laryngitis, arthritis...

all of these things are inflamed. Now you learn the root words and you know what is inflamed. Pretty cool huh?

That was just to whet your appetite;)

Blue