Medical Terminology & Communication

Have you ever heard the term, "It's all Greek to me?" Well, that is what medical jargon is, mostly Greek and some Latin. So if you are at a loss when it comes to medical terms, know that most lay people are, but you can learn it and it will help you to better communicate with your doctor and other professionals.

Where to Begin

• Medical terms are combined through prefixes, root words, suffixes and combining vowels. If it were not so, it would be near impossible for anyone to memorize all of the medical terms that exist. If you know the combinations, you can unlock any medical term whether you have ever seen it or not. You can start your quest by examining a medical terminology dictionary or student handbook. You can find both at the library.

Prefix

• We start with the prefix because it is the beginning of the word. It can give some meaning to the rest of the combination. The prefix can tell you if the following root word is two, many, below, above, within, without, on, or far, just to name a few. In medical terms the proceeding list reads; bi, multi, supra, super, intra, a, epi, and distal. You probably recognize some of the terms from everyday language. A prefix is not always needed when using a medical term such as, "rhinorrhea." Read more to find out what it means.

Root word

• The root word is the defining member of the combination. It describes the main feature. If you have a runny nose, it is rhinorrhea. The root word describes the nose and the term for that is rhino. Now you know where it came from. Did it make you think of a particular animal?

Suffix

• The suffix is used at the end of a word and it usually describes the condition or event. Going back to the word, rhinorrhea, the suffix is rrhea and it means runny. Describing a physician that specializes in a certain field would be described as an "ologist" as in dermatologist.

Combining vowels

• To put the word, rhinorrhea together, it needs a combining vowel such as, "o". It connects the root word and the suffix. A combining vowel can connect two root words together such as gastroenterology, The root word gastr, means stomach, the combining vowel is, "o", and the other root word is enter, meaning intestines. The suffix ology, has been placed at the end to describe the combination. It means the study of. The combining vowel, "o" is the most common used in medical terminology.

Abbreviations

• Some medical terms can be more than 20 letters. Though a word that long is not usually reduced by abbreviations except through acromyns, shortening certain terms is very helpful when writing prescriptions, and medical charts. A single letter can give meaning to a prescription such as "q", meaning every. Some other terms used in writing prescriptions are; bid-meaning twice a day, po-by mouth, a "c" with a line over it means-with. There are dictionaries that list all of the accepted abbreviations for the medical profession.