Should I take Medical Terminology for nursing school?

Breakthesky · Mar 21, 2015

I took Medical Terminology during pre-reqs thinking it would be beneficial for future classes. Looking back I wish I would have taken something else because I feel what I learned in the class was pretty well explained in my A&P classes.

Aliareza, BSN · Mar 21, 2015

My school stopped requiring it for the ADN program and about halfway through the program I found myself really wishing they hadn't. Just this semester, I've had professors tell me that when people are writing NCLEX questions, they'll throw in more complex terminology than is necessary just to throw test-takers off.

It's never a detriment to be able to look at a word and have some help with breaking it down. If given the option (I wasn't allowed to take any courses outside of the required ones ), I'd have definitely opted for it.

happyinmyheart · Mar 21, 2015

Our school recommends it to all students who don't get in the program on their first try. However, I wish it was a requirement. I start the program so soon I have no time to it in another class. I managed to get my hands on somebody's med term book though, so maybe I will have my own little med term class

northmississippi · Mar 21, 2015

can just get a med terms book and read it yourself, like medical terminolgy for dummies... those are actually pretty good books.

you need to know terms like ac, pn, tid, bid, po for sure.

feeneishia · Mar 21, 2015

I agree with earlier posts about only taking it if you need to pull up your GPA. My A&P teacher pretty much explained everything to us. Also, I am a bit older and didn't want to waste any time or money on any class I didn't need for the programs I'm applying to. Neither of them require it. But if you need to get your gpa up and its cheap, I say go for it.

krrbrr, ADN · Mar 21, 2015

I plan on giving this university's program a try https://www.dmu.edu/medterms/ it's free and since it's not required for my program I'd rather not pay for it! I also have a box of medical term flash cards that I plan on looking over after I finish that course.

I'm also looking around for a nutrition course as that wasn't required either, but I would love to have a better understanding of it.

Thanks dienw for the other link to the podcasts! I'll definitely give those a shot this summer as well! :)

TooManyCats, ASN, BSN · Mar 21, 2015

I think it depends *when* you're taking it. I took A&P I and II first and med term is a total cake walk and almost a waste of time. The only reason I haven't dropped it is that I need the credits for financial aid and a 4.0 is always good for your gpa.

If you're just starting your pre-requisites, I can see it being useful.

SopranoKris, MSN, RN, NP · Mar 21, 2015

I never regretted taking my medical terminology class. Medical words will be thrown around in class like confetti at a Macy's parade, it's helpful to know what they mean.

You mean like when the doc says "we're going to do an EGD" and you ask what that is and he says "esophagogastroduodenoscopy". Yeah, medical terminology definitely comes in handy :)