Introduction medical terminology and its anatomy

To many healthcare students, the vocabulary used in the medical environment may seem like learning words in a foreign language. Medical terminology relates to anatomy, diseases, diagnostic tests, procedures, etc. The vocabulary used is a combination of eponyms, abbreviations, acronyms, symbols, and medical terminology. Medical terminology often can be broken down into word parts that make the meaning concrete and easier to understand.

Eponyms

Eponyms are often used in diseases and medical instruments. Eponyms in medicine were developed to honor scientists and providers who have created an innovative device or researched a new disease. Eponyms must be memorized. The following are some examples of eponyms:

• Parkinson Disease was named after James Parkinson.
• Graves Disease was named after Dr. Robert James Graves.
• The Jackson-Pratt drain, used in some surgical procedures, was named after its two inventors, Dr. Frederick Jackson and Dr. Richard Pratt.
• The Snellen eye chart was named after its inventor, Dr. Herman Snellen.

Abbreviations, acronyms, and symbols

An abbreviation is a shortened version of a word or phrase. The abbreviation can be derived from the letters in the word or from combining the first letter of each word. The following are some examples of medical abbreviations:

• BP: blood pressure
• CC: chief complaint
• Ca: cancer
• HA: headache
• HTN: hypertension
• CBC: complete blood count
• CPE: complete physical examination
• PPE: personal protective equipment

Acronyms are also abbreviations that become pronounceable words. Examples of acronyms:

• AIDS: acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
• ARDS: acute respiratory distress syndrome
• CHF: congestive heart failure
• HIPAA: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
• RICE: rest, ice, compression, elevation
• SIDS: sudden infant death syndrome

A symbol is a picture that represents a word or phrase. Symbols were used more often with paper health records. The use of symbols would increase the speed of documentation and reduce the amount of paper needed. The use of symbols has decreased with the use of electronic health records today. The following are some examples of symbols. Note that s, p, and a are conventionally written with a line over the letter to set them apart from ordinary letters:

Throughout the textbook, abbreviations and acronyms are listed. It is important for you to learn them. Making and using flashcards to study these can be useful. Most healthcare facilities have a list of approved abbreviations and symbols that healthcare professionals can use. Make sure to use only approved abbreviations and symbols. Using unapproved abbreviations and symbols in messages and documentation may lead to confusion and patient care errors.

Lay terms and medical terms

Definitions

Lay term

The everyday, nonmedical word a patient uses to describe a condition, symptom, or procedure.

Medical term

The precise clinical word used in the health record and among members of the care team to describe the same condition, symptom, or procedure.

As a medical assistant, you need to translate fluently in both directions: turning a patient’s own words into the correct medical term for the record, and turning a medical term into plain language a patient can understand. The table below pairs some common lay terms with their medical equivalents.

Which term you reach for depends on who you’re talking to. When speaking directly with a patient, use plain, everyday language and avoid jargon and acronyms. As the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) puts it, “using jargon and terms your patients do not understand is an act of exclusion.” Confirm that the patient understood you by using the teach-back method - asking the patient to restate the information in their own words.

When documenting and communicating with the rest of the care team, use the precise medical term instead. The one exception is the chief complaint: as covered in the health history chapter, you record the chief complaint in the patient’s own words rather than translating it into medical terminology.

Medical terminology

Medical terminology often can be broken down into word parts that make the meaning concrete and easy to understand. Medical terms not made up of word parts are the terms that need to be memorized.

Medical terminology comes from a combination of Greek or Latin origin. By knowing the meaning of the word parts, a person can easily create or define medical terms. Here are the four common word parts:

• Prefix: A word part found at the beginning of the word. Prefixes modify the meaning of the word. In most textbooks, prefixes are listed with a hyphen, such as endo- and mal-.
• Suffix: A word part found at the end of the word. Suffixes follow a hyphen, such as -itis and -ist.
• Root: a word part that is the foundation or main meaning of the term.
• Combining vowel: A vowel that links the root to the suffix or a root to a root. Most commonly used combining vowel is an o.

When the root is added to the combining vowel, the result is called a combining form. Combining forms can be given by stating the root word part followed by a slash and the vowel (e.g., oste/o and chol/e).

The following section discusses prefixes and suffixes. Combining forms are presented by the body systems.

Prefixes and suffixes

The prefix is added to the beginning of the word. Not all medical terms have prefixes. Some prefixes have more than one meaning. The suffix is added to the end of the term. The prefix modifies the root by describing the following elements:

• Location or position: peri- (surrounding, around) and endo- (within, in, inner)
• Number: bi- (two, both) and tri- (three)
• State or problem: mal- (bad) and an- (without, no, not)
• Size: macro- (very large) and micro- (small)
• Speed or level: hyper- (above normal) and hypo- (below normal)

Suffixes

Body structures and functions:

Conditions and diseases:

Instruments/recording:

Noun ending:

Procedures:

Specialty:

Combining forms

A combining form contains both the root word part and the combining vowel. A combining form is linked to a root or a suffix.

Pitfall: keeping vs. dropping the combining vowel. Keep the combining vowel when the suffix begins with a consonant (arthr/o + -logy = arthrology). Drop the combining vowel when the suffix begins with a vowel (arthr/o + -itis = arthritis, not arthroitis). Keep the combining vowel between two roots even when the second root begins with a vowel.

Learning combining forms by body system can be helpful. The following sections describe the body systems and list the related combining forms.

Cardiovascular system

The function of the cardiovascular system is to transport materials throughout the body using the blood. The blood transports oxygen and nutrients and collects wastes through the body. Components in the blood also fight infections and form clots. The cardiovascular system includes the heart, arteries, arterioles, veins, venules, and blood. Combining terms related to the cardiovascular system include the following:

For example, combining cardi/o (heart) with the suffix -megaly (enlargement) forms cardiomegaly, meaning enlargement of the heart. Breaking a term down into its combining form and suffix this way lets you decode or build terms without memorizing each one individually.

Directional combining forms

The next chapter, Body system combining forms, works through combining forms for other body systems, including the digestive system shown below.