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Take A 'Language' Course From Home And Take One Step Closer To A Health Care Career

by NatashaBright

Medical terminology is a broad term for the language associated with the medical field. Doctors spend many years getting fluent with the amazing variety of terms that describe a patient's condition, as well as any procedure performed on the patient to treat that condition. It is important for patients who may be curious to learn about their medical treatment to learn the terms that are known as medical terminology. In order to learn these terms, patients may turn to the form of decoding they learned in grade school, which is to break a word apart by the prefixes, suffixes and root words. A good part of any research plan into college scholarship information for a health care career should include terminology.

The jargon that is bandied about within a medical office is actually thousands of years old. No surprise as to whom is credited with creating the lingo - it's the Greeks and the Romans. These two pillars of Western civilization are just as responsible for laying the foundation of medical treatment as they are for laying the foundations for architecture, systems of government, philosophy, literature and economic systems. Medical terminology originates in either Greek or Latin, and while both languages may speak of the same thing, in the medical community it is considered tactless to mix Greek and Latin terms. This is a natural extension of the elements that are needed for health care education and a career in the field; many start with college scholarships possibilities.

Greek prefixes are like Latin prefixes in that they appear in the word before the root. There are quite a few Greek prefixes as, of the two languages, Greek is the elder statesman. Some familiar examples of Greek root words are as follows - prot(o) (first of its kind), presby(o) (having to relate to old age), pseudo- (something which is fake) and poly- (more than one).

Greek suffixes are numerous as well. These suffixes are used to detail what is precisely occurring in relation to the root word. Some Greek suffixes that may be of interest to someone learning medical terminology are phob(o)- (fear of, e.g., arachnophobia is fear of spiders), -penia (having a deficiency), and -scopy (using an instrument in order to view something).

Latin prefixes serve the same purpose as their Greek counterparts. There is a belief, however, in the medical community that it is improper to mix the Latin verbiage with the Greek verbiage. Many of the prominent Latin prefixes have to do with location such as ambi- (both sides, e.g., ambidextrous), intra- (within), inter- (between) and post- (backside or behind).

Latin suffixes serve the same purpose as the Greek suffixes. Many Latin suffixes can also deal with direction and location. Some important Latin suffixes are -ary (in relation to, e.g., coronary relates to the heart), and -tension (pressure, for example hypertension is high blood pressure).

Root words are necessary to make sense of the prefixes and suffixes. Greek and Latin are two completely different languages, so it is only fitting that there are many Greek and Latin root words that have a common meaning. An example of this phenomenon is the word for brain. In Latin that word is cerebr(o), while the Greek term is encephal(o). There are many other examples as well, but it is important to remember that root words are the most important words as they create the distinct characteristic of the medical term.

About the Author: Frank Cole

Learning medical terminology isn't necessarily a rough undertaking. For those who have the time, taking a medical terminology course can be very rewarding because it helps create a knowledge base about one of the most important topics: health. It can also start someone on a reward career path.

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Take A 'Language' Course From Home And Take One Step Closer To A Health Care Career