Tips for Learning and Using Medical Terms

You're constantly told when you enter the healthcare field that it's like learning another language. This is, unfortunately for many of our future patients, very true. We learn medicine using many new terms that most of us do not understand when we start. Over time we get more used to them and start using them more easily, like learning any new language. Many of these new words are necessary because we're delving into a very specialized subject area that requires new words and new ways of communicating. However, a number of these words do not add deeper or new meaning to words and are used out of tradition. Diaphoresis means sweating. That's it. Emesis means vomit. That's it. These words you will learn and will become part of your everyday vocabulary. Just remember that most of your patients will not understand these words so you've got to be good about re-translating your words back into normal English.

One good way I've found for both learning new medical terms and guarding against poor patient communication is to learn exactly what each new word means. Literally. This is great in the age of internet because all you have to do is type etymology (etyomon = true sense; logy = a speaking) and then the medical word into google. Learning the origin of these words gives a sense of history to medicine and will also help these words stick with you better. An added bonus is when you start using these words, you'll know exactly what you're talking about. Many times we start using these words out of imitation and do not know exactly how to use them properly. This usually doesn't matter but can lead to confusion down the road when you're trying to build on your knowledge base.

Here are a couple good websites to help you in this endeavor:

Emory University has compiled a large number of commonly used medical terms and their origin. Alphabetical but no index.
http://www.emory.edu/ANATOMY/AnatomyManual/Etymology.html

The Online Etymology Dictionary. Concise, easy to navigate, and comprehensive.
http://www.etymonline.com