Benefits of Being Fluent in Medical Terminology 1. Effectively using medical terminology is much like being fluent in a foreign language. The greater one’s fluency, the more likely they will be successful in an environment where the language is spoken. The ability to pronounce medical terms correctly and understand their meaning influences the effectiveness of communication with patients AND health professionals. Some of the specific benefits of fluency in Medical Terminology include: 1. Ensuring that health professionals understand each other to ensure the safety of the patient. Medical terminology helps describe a patient’s medical condition and the treatment requirements in an efficient way so all members of the health care team have a common understanding. Consider a situation where a physician tells the scheduler in the outpatient surgery center to schedule a patient for an endoscopy, and the operating room staff prepare for a colonoscopy. At the very least, delays and confusion can occur to inconvenience everyone, including the patient. At the very worst, a medical error could occur. 2. Building confidence among the health care team. Inexperienced providers who confidently and correctly use medical terminology signal to more experienced staff that they can be trusted to communicate effectively. Although new graduates understandably may stumble, particularly in pronouncing or using difficult terms, becoming fluent in communicating with the health care team contributes to the success of the new practitioner. 3. Improving the patient experience. Most patients want to understand what is happening to them when they are undergoing diagnostic and treatment procedures. Yet rarely do they understand the medical “jargon” health care professionals use to explain treatment and procedures. Meeting a patient’s “need to know” requires, as we saw in the initial scenario, the ability to accurately translate the “jargon” into language the patient understands. Patients are more likely to rely on and trust a caregiver who uses simple language that everyone understands. Dissecting Medical Terminology 2. Although some terminology, such as acronyms, simply must be memorized, many medical terms are derivatives of Latin or Greek words. Medical terms often are a combination of a prefix, a root, and a suffix. Knowing what these parts of the word mean in Latin or Greek can provide clues as to the meaning of the word. Table A below provides some examples of these clues.
Types of combinations of parts of medical terms
Definition of Derivative
Definition
erythron = red; reddish cyte = cell
erythrocyte: red blood cells
Root + Suffix
bronchiectasis: a condition in which the lungs’ airways become damaged, making it hard to clear mucus.
bronchi/o = bronchus/bronchi ectises = expansion/dilation
Prefix + Root
peri = around card = heart it is = inflammation
pericarditis: inflammation of the sac around the heart.
Prefix + Root + Suffix
Table A: Example of Analyzing Medical Terms
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