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Learning Medical Terminology

Medical terminology courses require students to learn a huge amount of infor- mation. In other words, you must memorize large amounts of data. There is no way around it: Learning medical terminology is like learning a foreign language. To become fluent in this language, you must develop a large, accurate vocab- ulary, and you must know how to use it. You can accomplish this by utiliz- ing multiple learning strategies. You should not expect it to be easy, but don’t give up! The difficulty can facilitate more effective learning through increased engagement and effort. Study Skills It is unrealistic to expect instructors to employ teaching methods that align with your learning preferences, as research shows it does not improve student suc- cess. It is the student’s responsibility to learn; however, many people have never been taught this skill. Often, students resort to cramming, an extensive memori- zation of a large amount of data over a short period of time. Cramming results in very poor recall and may displace other important data in short-term memory. Some factors important to long-term memory retention follow. If you find you are struggling during the course, revisit this list to determine whether you’re maximizing your ability to learn. • Attention (the extent to which you consciously attend to and focus on the data) • Repetition (your rehearsal of the data over and over) • Information-processing methods (the strategies you use to analyze and remember data) • Study effort (the time and energy you devote to studying) • Emotional relationship (relating the information being studied to strong emotions or significant events) • Connection (relating new information to a prior experience or previously learned information) Many colleges and universities are making strides to improve student success by evaluating these and other factors using a research-based assessment tool called the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI). The LASSI assesses 10 areas: anxiety, attitude, concentration, information processing, motivation, selecting main ideas, self-testing, test strategies, time management, and using academic resources. The results are intended to be shared with your instructor, advisor, counselor, or tutor to assist them in designing specific interventions according to your individual learning needs. The LASSI may be provided by your college or university or can be purchased by individual students for a small fee. Note Taking Taking notes does not mean attempting to capture everything that was said during a lecture. Instead, write down main ideas, keywords, and important dates and names. Use bullets, phrases, abbreviations, symbols, and drawings instead of complete sentences. Add how the new information connects to your prior knowledge or personal experiences. Write down questions to ask your instructor or discuss with your classmates later.