Understanding Medical Terminology can seem like a daunting task at first; and in reality, there is no possible way for anyone to memorize all of the words in a medical dictionary. Some people may struggle to understand what is a neurosurgeon, let alone what all these specifics mean.

Believe it or not, there is a simple way to learn and understand Medical Terminology. Most words are simply a combination of different parts, or elements, which include…Prefixes, Suffixes and word roots.

This CTE Health Science video is an introduction to understanding Medical Terminology.

The Medical Terminology video series is an easily accessible and affordable online program developed to facilitate the learning experience for medical terms. The Medical Terminology presented in this series complies with the CTE (Career and Technology Education) guidelines as required by the Education Agency of Texas. Any person seeking to learn and/or review the basics of medical terminology will greatly benefit from this video series. As in most medical terminology text books the terms are taught within the context of the Anatomy and Physiology body systems.

Let’s take a look at the script from the video “Understanding Medical Terminology” and find out just how easy it is to learn.

What is a Hysterosalpingo-oophorectomy? Believe it or not, there is a simple way to learn and understand these kinds of words. Most words like this are simply a combination of different parts, which include prefixes, suffixes and word roots.

Prefixes are syllables or words placed at the beginning of a word.

Suffixes are syllables or words placed at the end of a word.

and word roots are main words to which prefixes and suffixes can be added.

These elements are identified by specific characters.

A root word will be followed by a forward slash/

A suffix will follow a hyphen –

and a prefix will precede a hyphen.

So let’s another look at our mystery word, and break it down to find the meaning.

Hystero means uterus…Salpingo is the fallopian tubes…-oophor means ovaries…and ectomy is the removal of. So what we end up with is a removal of the uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries. In other words, a complete hysterectomy.

Let’s take a look at another example. Appendicitis

Our word root is append…which is the appendix.

The suffix is itis….meaning inflammation, or inflammation of..

Appendicitis is the inflammation of the appendix.

If you add the prefix “pseudo” to appendicitis…you get the word pseudoappendicitis. Pseudo means false. Pseudo-appendicitis is a false inflammation of the appendix.

Here are a few tips to remember.

-The prefix typically serves to further define a word root.

-When prefixes, suffixes or word roots are joined together, vowels can be added for pronunciation purposes.

-Vowels are not used if the word root or suffix begins with vowel.

Example…. encephalitis

Encephal(o) means brain itis, again is an inflamation of… Encephalitis is the inflammation of the brain.

The vowel “o” is not used because the suffix “itis” begins with a vowel.

Encephalogram….or a picture of the brain, keeps the vowel “o” because the suffix “gram” does not begin with a vowel.

Here’s another example… Hepato, or liver…and megaly, which means large or enlarged.

If you combine the word root and the suffix you get hepatomegaly.

Using Flash Cards

Just because these words may look intimidating, doesn’t mean they have to be. Simply learning basic prefixes, suffixes and word roots will enable you to understand a lot of terminology you may have never seen before.

One simple way to learn the meaning of prefixes, suffixes and word roots is by using flash cards.

You can place a prefix, suffix or word root on the front of a card….and the meaning on the back. This easy study method is a great tool in learning Medical Terminology.

By using these simple study methods you can be confident that when a medical term is presented to you, you will easily have an understanding of what it means by simply deciphering it’s meaning according to roots, prefixes, and suffixes.

Learning this course will also enhance your ability to score better in the English portion of the SAT test and other similar tests such as ACT.

More Tips for Learning Medical Terminology
Another hint for recognizing a word root is…..
ROOT words are frequently associated with a body part. A word root is always the subject or main topic of the medical term. For example: Heart – word root for heart is… Card/i, Card/o, or even Card/io… the slash is where the connecting vowel attaches to the root.
Example: Card/io/megaly The method for deciphering a medical term is that you start with the last word part and work yourself up through each element until you get to the first element of the Term which would most likely be a prefix or not.
So you would decipher first the suffix in this case being “megaly”. Megaly means enlargement. The next element is the main element of the Term which is called the word root… Card/io which means “heart”….
Reading would go like this…. megaly means, Enlargement of the heart; card/ , means heart.The complete meaning for this term Cardiomegaly is….Englargement of the heart. the Term Card/io/megaly- Cardiomegaly means… Enlargement of the heart. You can then say this term is indicating that the heart is larger then normal… This is then considered a “health Condition” that may require medical attention.
One more example, this one is a little more complex a CHALLENGE…
Hysterosalpingo-oophorectomy… What a mouth full… and very important to note, if you are not aware of the meaning of a medical terminalogy it can be very intimidating when a medical personnel uses terms like this.

Medical personnel need to always remember that most people do not know what these terms mean. Under Practicing Medical Ethics, it is very important that Medical Personnel use words or descriptions that will help a client or patient better understand their health condition as diagnosed by Doctors and other medical personnel or teach them what the term means.
WHAT does Hyster/o/salping/o-oophr/o/ectomy means… Let’s follow the formula I provided earlier on… you break down the term into elements… these are prefixes, suffixes and word roots. Here goes the break down beginning from the right moving to the left.
ectomy which means ‘ surgical removal”.
salping is a root word for fallopian tubes
oophr is also a root word for Ovaries
and then the last element is Hyster also a root word for Uterus.
Continuing the pattern on how to decipher a medical term … we begin from the back or from the farthest term to your right and move from element to element until stopping with the first element.
Here we go … READY???
Hysterosalpingo-oophrectomy means reading from right to left
Surgical removal (of) ovary (ies), falloian tube (s) and Uterus.
It is NOW possible to understand the Medical term.. Hysterosalpingo-oophrectomy – This term is a description of a medical procedure commonly known as “Hysterectomy” – where all of the female reproductive organs is surgically removed. The organs for the Human female reproductive system is comprised of Uterus, Fallopian Tubes and ovaries, the organ that contain the ovum/(eggs).
A very proven method of learning the meaning of prefixes, suffixes and word roots is by using flash cards. Very simple to do. You can place a prefix, suffix or word root on the front of a card….and the meaning on the back. This easy study method is a great tool in learning Medical Terminology.
The best way to learn anything is to Apply it… the next series of videos as you learn about the Anatomy and Physiology of the Human Body you will be applying your knowledge of medical terms by learning Medical Terms according to organ systems.
Check out CTEskills.com for more lessons on Medical Terminology.