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Discussion

Update and advice needed!

Hey guys!

So Im in the 4th day of nursing school. I'm in a private college so it's a pretty fast phased class. Anyway, everything is going well except for a few things. It seems to me and other students as well that the staff are only coming in intoducing themselves and throwing in chapters for us to do. I mean I know that how it should be but I think they could have a better structure. Were on our 4th day and we have no schedule what so ever we just kind of come in and see how things go for the day.

Anyway, what I really wanted advice on is the medical terminology class. We found out yesterday that we have a "teacher" but she's not going to "teach" us. She ls basically coming in once a week tell us what chapters to do and it's our responsibility to learn everything before a test. Which I find difficult. So I was wondering how do you guys memorize so many terminology? I I've made flash cards but it doesn't seem to stick to me. Help! Thanks in advance!

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    • Featured Replies

    Make flash cards not only for the terms themselves but for the suffixes, prefixes and root words that make up medical terminology, as you will see these parts of words repeated throughout the body.

    If you know that "ad" means "above, and "renal" means "kidney," you will be able to figure out that the "adrenal" glands sit on top of the kidneys.

    "Circumoral cyanosis" sounds like a bunch of gibberish until you break it down. "Circum" = around. "Oral" pertains to the mouth. "Cyan" = blue. And "-osis" means condition. Circumoral cyanosis is the condition of having a blueness of the lips or tissues around the mouth (usually due to low oxygen in the blood).

    If you familiarize yourself with these basic definitions, you will be able to make an educated guess at meanings, locations, organ systems, etc. Having this foundational knowledge will help you to see the hidden elements in these words and give them far more meaning than just memorizing a long string of letters.

    Here is an excellent link to get you started.

    List of medical roots, suffixes and prefixes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Every time you learn a new bone, nerve, muscle, etc., see if you can break the word down into its components and create a picture in your mind. Also learn the anatomical position and the words relating to it. Superior (above), inferior (below), proximal (closer to), distal (farther from), medial (toward the middle), lateral (to the side or away from the middle), and so on.

    Knowing the bits and pieces that make up the whole should give you a handle on this medical jargon that really is a new language.

    I hope this helps.

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    Medical terminology isn't really anything that can be taught....it's straight memorization. You just need to put the time in to memorizing it.

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    • Experts

    We never had a medical terminology course. By the time we got through anatomy, physiology, chemistry, microbiology and pharmacology it really wasn't necessary.

    I will say that you may wish to approach this like a new language. Specifically, make up sentences using the words and use them. That should help a lot.

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