Introduction

Welcome to Medical Terminology for Healthcare Professions. Medical terminology is a language that is used in healthcare settings. Medical terms are built from Greek and Latin word parts and include acronyms, eponyms, and modern-day language terms.

Learning a new language can be a daunting task. This book offers methods for breaking down medical words and making them more manageable. To be successful, you will need to be committed 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 healthcare courses.

How Open Educational Resources (OER) work

This book is an adaptation of Building a Medical Terminology Foundation, published by Carter and Rutherford at eCampus Ontario with revisions in text and activities for clarification and flow. The anatomy and physiology content of this OER has been adapted from the OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology OER by Betts et al. Both books are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License and in the spirit of OPEN education we have licensed this OER with the same license.

Building a Medical Terminology Foundation Book Citation:

Carter, K., & Rutherford, M. (2020). Building a Medical Terminology Foundation. eCampus Ontario. https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/medicalterminology/

Anatomy and Physiology Book Citation:

Betts, J.G., et al. (2013). Anatomy and Physiology. OpenStax. http://cnx.org/content/col11496/latest/

Students: This OER book is different from many traditional medical terminology textbooks. Interactive content is built into each chapter that is available only in the online format.  If using a PDF copy or EPUB version of this book, you will be directed to a hyperlink to access the interactive content. Further, glossary terms will be bolded in green and their definitions can be found in the glossary at the end of the book. In this book 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 book was curated and created for Healthcare Administration, Health Sciences, and Pre-Professional students, our hope is that you will take this OER and customize it for your program and share again.

Medical Terminology for Healthcare Professions Book Citation:

Nelson, A., & Greene, K. (2021). Medical Terminology for Healthcare Professions. University of West Florida Pressbooks. https://pressbooks.uwf.edu/medicalterminology/

***Other formats available upon request