Introduction
Welcome to Building a Medical Terminology Foundation. Medical terminology is a language that is used in health care settings. Medical terms are built from Greek and Latin word parts and in addition include acronymns, eponyms, and modern-day language terms.
Learning a new language can be a daunting task. In this resource, we offer a method for breaking down medical words that takes that daunting task and makes it manageable. What is required from you is a commitment to memorizing the word parts, learning the rules, and identifying the rebels. Once you meet that commitment we will show you how to apply the rules to the word parts you have memorized. As you memorize the language components of medical terminology it is important to support that learning with the context of anatomy and physiology. Consider where in the body the medical term is referencing and then how it works within the body. This will build a medical terminology foundation that you can continue to grow in your future health-care courses.
August 2024
Updated edition of this resource is available: Building a Medical Terminology Foundation 2e
How this open educational resource (OER) works.
The introductory anatomy and physiology content of this OER has been adapted from the OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology OER by Betts, et al., which is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Following OpenStax’s leadership and in the spirit of OPEN education we have licensed this OER with the same license.
Students: this OER is different than many traditional medical terminology textbooks. The interactive content is built into each chapter. In this resource you will work through each body system that includes word parts, whole medical terms, and common abbreviations associated with that particular body system. At the end of each body system chapter is a vocabulary list of associated terms related to that body system. The interactive reinforcement activities require you to click, drag and drop, listen and repeat, flip, and test yourself.
Faculty and teaching staff: while this OER was curated and created for Health Office Administration and Health Services students in the first year of college, our hope is that you will take this OER and customize it for your program and share again.
Anatomy and Physiology Book Citation:
Betts, J.G., Young, K.A., Wise, J.A., Johson, E., Poe, B., Kruse, D. H., Korol, O., Johnson, J.E., Womble, M. & DeSaix, P. (2013). Anatomy and Physiology. OpenStax. http://cnx.org/content/col11496/latest/
Cover image: Medical Diagram. From Spratt, A., 2018. Licensed for reuse under UnSplash’s licence.
Terms derived from the first letters of a phrase and are spoken as if they are a word on their own.
Terms that are named after a place or person.
Terms from the English language.
word parts that do not fit within the language rules
