Introduction to
Medical Terminology
Medical Terminology or Med Terms is the
vocabulary used the world of healthcare. There
are various components of Med Terms
Abbreviations
Prefixes
Suffixes
Root Words
Acronyms
Abbreviations
• Are shortened forms of words,
usually just letters.
• Sometimes abbreviations may be just
a letter that represents a word
• Can be combined to create a order or
direction
• Some abbreviations are symbols
Examples
•
•
•
•
a
p
c
s
- before
- after
- with
- without
• Some letters have a line over the
letter and some do not
Letters of Abbreviations
•
•
•
•
•
•
abd – abdomen
bil – lateral
ck – check
ea – each
in- inch
prn – whenever necessary
Used as a Direction
• ck TPR q4h
Check Temperature, Pulse, and Respiration
every four hours
• Shorten version to give a direction, saves time
and easier to write
Symbols in Healthcare
•
•
•
•
•
♂




male
increase or above
number
less than
change
Examples of Using
Symbols in Healthcare
• 23 y/o ♂ - 23 year old male
• Hold med if BP  90/60 – hold
medication if blood pressure less
than 90 over 60.
Prefixes
• A syllable or word placed at the
beginning of a word or used
• Usually serves to define a root word
• Example hypotension
» Low pressure
Suffixes
• A syllable or word placed at the end
of a word or used
• Usually describes what is happening
to the root word
• Example: appendicitis
» inflammation of the appendix
Root Words
• Can be defined as a main word or
represents a word
• Vowels are sometimes used to join
together prefix, root word or suffix
• Vowels are not used if the letter is a
part of another part of the medical
term
Common examples
a, e, i, ia, io, o, u
Examples of Using Root
Words
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•
•
•
Gastro - stomach
Cardio – heart
Ren – kidney
Quad - four
Putting Med Terms
Together
• Pseudoappenicits – false inflammation
of the appendix
• Gastroentitis – inflammation of the
stomach
Learning Med Terms
• Making index cards as flash cards
• Practice using
• Creating games and using the
internet games
• Suggested site:
http://www.quia.com/shared/med/
• Or quizlet.com