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Courses >
Health Care, Nutrition, & Fitness > Medical Terminology: A Word Association Approach
Syllabus:
All
courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two
lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course.
You do not have to be present when the lesson is released, but you must
complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.
A new
section of each course starts on the second or third Wednesday of each
month. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure
to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.
| Week One |
| Wednesday - Lesson 01 |
Welcome
to the first lesson of medical terminology! We'll begin the course by
exploring root terms, which represent the main meaning of a combined
medical term. A combined medical term consists of a root, a prefix,
and/or a suffix. As we progress through each lesson of this course,
you'll see that we proceed by "body system," and in this first lesson,
we'll go over root terms that are associated with the musculoskeletal
system, so we'll be talking a lot about the muscles, bones, joints, and
tendons of the body in this lesson.
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| Friday - Lesson 02 |
In
today's lesson, you'll learn a variety of terminology relating to the
integumentary and digestive systems. The integumentary system includes
the skin, connective tissues, and some loosely associated structures
such as nails and teeth. When we discuss the digestive system, you'll
learn medical terminology relating to the digestive tract from the
mouth, to the pharynx, to the esophagus, and so on, all the way out to
the exterior of the body.
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| Week Two |
| Wednesday - Lesson 03 |
In
this lesson, we'll go over terminology related to the cardiovascular
and respiratory systems. The cardiovascular system includes the heart,
arteries, veins, and blood, while the respiratory system includes the
lungs and assorted chest structures.
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| Friday - Lesson 04 |
Today's
topic areas are the urinary and reproductive systems. When we go over
the urinary system, you'll learn terminology related to the kidneys,
bladder, urine, and even some chemistry terms. When we go over the
reproductive system, you'll learn root terms that refer to both male
and female anatomical structures.
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| Week Three |
| Wednesday - Lesson 05 |
In
this lesson, we'll finish up our discussion about root terms. You'll
learn root terms that are associated with the neurosensory system,
including nerves, the eyes, ears, brain, and spinal cord. Then we'll
begin doing something a little different—at the end of the lesson,
we'll do a little review session to help you remember all of the root
terms that you've learned up to this point.
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| Friday - Lesson 06 |
In
today's lesson, you'll learn about prefixes and suffixes that are
common in medicine and start with the letters A through H. Starting
today, we won't be going through the word associations that we did in
previous lessons. By now, you'll find that you can recognize many of
these terms as they're used in our normal, everyday language.
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| Week Four |
| Wednesday - Lesson 07 |
In
this lesson, we'll continue to progress through the prefixes and
suffixes commonly used in medical terminology. Our objective for today
is to identify the common medical prefixes and suffixes that begin with
the letters I through O.
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| Friday - Lesson 08 |
Today,
we'll complete our tour through the alphabetical listings of the most
common prefixes and suffixes used in medical terminology by focusing on
prefixes and suffixes that begin with the letters P through Z. You'll
find that there are many more terms that medical professionals use less
often, and you'll even discover that sometimes a root that you already
know is used as a prefix or suffix.
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| Week Five |
| Wednesday - Lesson 09 |
In
previous lessons, you learned about common prefixes and suffixes. In
today's lesson, we'll study specific prefixes and suffixes that pertain
to color. Color is used quite a bit in the medical field because it
helps everyone to describe various signs and symptoms. In this lesson,
we'll also go over medical abbreviations that are specific to the
various occupations and titles of the medical industry. Your assignment
in this lesson will change a little as your research becomes a bit more
challenging.
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| Friday - Lesson 10 |
The
medical community uses an abundance of abbreviations. Some medical
facilities don't allow them, but you should still learn the meanings of
the most common abbreviations so you'll know them when you see them.
For this lesson, we'll study the abbreviations that start with the
letters A through R. Your assignment for this lesson will be a bit
different—you're going to find words in a medical note that you can
replace with the abbreviations that you learned in the lesson.
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| Week Six |
| Wednesday - Lesson 11 |
In
this lesson, we'll finish our study of medical abbreviations as we
explore the abbreviations that begin with letters S through Z. We'll
also go over specific abbreviations that refer to hospital areas,
laboratory tests, chemistries, and medical symbols. In today's
assignment, it's up to you to find the abbreviations that correctly
relate to each sentence in a medical note.
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| Friday - Lesson 12 |
Here
in our final lesson, it's time to put everything you've learned
together. We'll look at our roots, prefixes, and suffixes, and see how
they create combined medical terms from body system to body system.
You'll also learn some directional terms that are commonly used in
medicine. You'll find that your assignment for this lesson provides you
the opportunity to decipher a complete medical note.
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This
course includes a knowledgeable and caring instructor who will guide
you through your lessons, facilitate discussions, and answer your
questions. The instructor for this course will be Doug Best.
 Douglas
Best first began working as a field medical instructor in the US Army
at Fort Sam Houston, Texas in 1980. He has worked as a nurse in such
medical specialty areas as Pediatrics, Newborn Intensive Care, Home
Health, adult cardiac, surgical and medical intensive care units, the
emergency room, heart catheterization, burn intensive care and the
morgue. He has been a CPR instructor, EMT, Advanced Cardiac Life
Support and Neonatal Advanced Life Support certified. He is also a
curriculum specialist and has developed such workforce training
programs as Medical Specialty Training for displaced workers, Medical
Assistant, Certified Nursing Assistant in Spanish, and Medical
Transcription for the University of Texas at Brownsville. He has also
overseen research projects in the development of nurses from Mexico and
Sri Lanka. He currently is a trainer working with Humana Military.
Requirements:
Internet access, e-mail, the Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox Web browser, and the Adobe Flash and PDF plug-ins
(two free and simple downloads you obtain at
http://www.adobe.com/downloads by clicking Get Adobe Flash Player and
Get Adobe Reader). No medical background is necessary.
Student Reviews:
"As a person who is new to the medical field, (I work at a
pharmaceutical company), but not new to medical terms (I am the mother
of four kids--lots of doctor and hospital experience!), I found the
course to be very interesting and I learned a lot. I enjoyed learning
the meanings of many root words. Hopefully this will help me as I
continue in the pharmaceutical field."
"At the beginning of this course, I thought there is no way
I will ever remember all of these terms. When I saw lesson 12, again I
thought there is no way. After I got into the terms in lesson 12, they
all fell into place. You could start with the first part of the word
and figure out the rest. I thought I knew them but I was still scared
of the final exam, but I am NOW very proud of myself and what I have
learned and accomplished thru this course. I couldn't believe I scored
100% on the final exam. I would like to thank the instructor for a very
good course. I now feel I have learned it in a way that will stay with
me. Thank you again."
"Enjoyed this class more than others, the instructor was
very positive and enlightening and I will recommend this class to
others if I find they are interested in the medical field."
"Excellent course! The spanish component was a surprise. It
did require additional studying, but I enjoyed learning the Spanish
because it is extremely useful in our society. Spanish speakers make-up
a large and fast-growing percentage of the population. It will come in
handy in the medical fields. Once again, I enjoyed the class."
"Great intro to medical terminology and abbreviations; very useful to someone interested in getting into healthcare field."
"I am new to medical terminology, and really enjoyed this
course. I was not sure how much I was retaining until the final exam.
It is amazing how this all sunk in."
"I am very impressed with the amount of information and
presentation that went into this course. The amount of work that went
into setting up such a vast amount of information so clearly and
understandably was terrific. I found it very interesting and actually
shocked myself at such a great grade on the final. I was thrilled to
see how easy it actually was to decipher so many difficult terms when
you understood prefixes, suffixes and roots. I will highly recommend
this course. Thank you so much."
"I can't imagine this course being taught any other way or
by any other instructor! Thank you, Mr. Best for making this a fun and
interesting class!!"
"I enjoyed taking this course. At first I was a little
nervous taking an online course, but I found once it started that it
wasn't bad at all. I would recommend this course for anyone interested."
"I enjoyed the humor, visuals and mnemonics as ways for
remembering words. The Spanish was helpful for me in particular because
I am fairly bilingual and work with many Hispanic women. The first
lesson I studied very hard, had my roommate quiz me and prepared very
well. The assignments and links were mostly helpful. Thanks for a great
class."
"I enjoyed this course. I have a medical transcription
certificate which I have not utilized for a while. I am now returning
to medical transcription, and I took this course as a refresher. It has
been very helpful. I did not utilize the discussion group since the
material was already familiar to me; however, I feel that it would be
very useful to someone who is just beginning to study medical
terminology. I wish that I had had that option when I first studied
medical terminology. I would recommend this course."
"I especially enjoyed the spanish terminology. That was an unexpected bonus! The next course I take will be Speed Spanish."
"I felt so comfortable with this course, even though it was
my first internet course. It was so interesting and I'm very happy that
I stuck with it. I felt that the instructor made it so easy for me to
comprehend and understand everything. It couldn't help any more than it
did."
"I found the class refreshing and fun, and I have been a medical biller for 15 years."
"I found this to be an excellent class. The information was
given in a format that, even someone who hasn't studied in 30 years,
was able to grasp and retain. The instructor was exceptional. Always
answering questions quickly and directly. I also enjoyed the little
bits of humor and kernals of historical information added through out
the lessons. This kept the course interesting and fun. I waited for the
new lessons with anticipation. Thank you for offering these courses.
They are an excellent way to learn on a very busy schedule."
"I have previously taken about 6 or 7 online classes;
however, this was by far my favorite!! The instructor's lessons were
very informative, easy to learn, and the material was presented in a
"fun" way......Thanks for the quality of this course."
"I loved this course. it will also help me to prepare for my
schooling for an Associates of Applied Science Degree as a Medical
Assistant. Thank you for all the great help ."
"I'm in the medical profession and taking the class has
helped me to understand what the doctors and nurses are writing in the
charts. I would highly recommend this to anyone who is thinking of
taking this course. Taking it on-line has helped me a lot because of my
work schedule. I was able to print it up and take it with me to work so
I can study during my breaks. Thanks for being the best teacher."
"I never thought I could memorize such a large amount of
material. When it came to the quizes I was sure the temptation to look
up the answer would be too great, but I did not, and was pleased with
my results."
"I really enjoyed taking this course-it let me learn as slow or as fast as I needed to go."
"I really enjoyed the course. I found it most informative,
interesting, and entertaining! Reading signs, wall charts, labels, and
such at the hospital has been a practical review. Thanks so much for
offering this course online."
"I really enjoyed this class. The instructor made learning
the terms fun and enjoyable. I would recommend this course to others.
Thanks again!"
"I really like the way the dialogue was setup with the
pictures for easier understanding and remembering what I learned in the
past.I have already told my fellow classmates to take the course."
"I really loved this class. I looked forward to the next
lessons at all times. I think I did well in this course and that really
did a lot for my self-esteem."
"I thoroughly enjoyed this course and found it very
interesting. The Instructor was very prompt with his reply to our
questions. Thanks so much !!!"
"I thoroughly enjoyed this course. I loved how everything
came together with Lesson 12. I wish there was a continuing class. This
course will help me on the job - I work at a doctor's office."
"I thought the course was a great course. The instructor worded the course very well and it helped me understand things better."
"I truly enjoyed the course. I have no experience in the
medical field, but found it was so easy and it just made sense. Thank
you."
"Loved the on-line course! Would gladly recommend this to others..this is the way to go when you already have a full time job!"
"Many, many thanks for helping to make a smooth beginning
for a career change in the medical field that will enable me to be at
home with my family!! Bless you."
"So much information for someone like me who has had no
medical training before - but the instructor made it visible and
actually fun. I have a friend taking MedicalTerminology at another
school and she is extremely impressed with your teaching methodology.
It makes it much easier to learn more quickly. Thank for a good
experience from someone who has not done school work in 40 years. It
was a pleasure."
"Thank you for an opportunity to hopefully make a change in
my choice of career...this course was very easy to navigate and I found
the quizzes/final very easy to take. No problems what-so-ever! Thanks
again!"
"Thank you. I have never taken an on- line class before and
this put me completely at ease. The course was managed perfectly, easy
to handle yet strong enough to make you think Thank you. I would
definately encourage others to take this class. I am new to the medical
field and this was a good way to start."
"Thank you very much for such an exciting course.I even
started looking at the drug adverts on television differently, breaking
down the medical words.My brain has been physically stimulated."
"The course has been so useful. You were correct, I'll never
be able to watch those hospital show in the same manner ever again."
"The course was easy to comprehend, and it covered material that could help me in my job search."
"The outline of this course is ideally suited for people
with multiple demands on their time. While I ended up working
feverishly at the end, and needed an extension, it was a relief to know
that the information remained available. This is my first on-line
course -- I would definitely take another!"
"This course is both effective and fun. I found it well
prepared, easy to understand and very interesting. I am very happy I
took this course. I do intend to use it professionally, but even if I
don't, the knowledge is valuable. Thank you!"
"This course really did exactly what I wanted for me, an
introduction to terminology! I liked the way it was presented. I made a
spread sheet for all the roots, etc and typing them in helped me to
remember most of them. I would have missed only two questions on the
final if I had taken it cold. So I am very proud of myself and what
this course helped me accomplish. This internet course (my first) was
great! THANKS!"
"This course was a lot of fun. It was also very helpful and
I will reference back to the class when working in the medical field.
Thanks for all your help!"
"This course was fun, interesting, and right to the point.
Douglas Best has a wonderful course, and I would recommend it to anyone
with any kind of interst in words. A second course with him would be
great! Hint!!"
"This course was SUPER..The instructor was very detailed
with each name and its meaning. I really wouldnt change much at all...I
LOVED IT!!"
"This is the first time I have ever retained any knowledge
from medical terminology. The way the course was put together and
presented was outstanding. The way I like to learn, the way I can
remember. This was my very first online course and if all online
lessons were this great, I would do a lot more online classes. The
instructor is definitely knowledgeable in the medical field, as well as
in touch with how people want to learn and retain information."
"This was a great course. I would recommend it to anyone working or planning to work in the medical field."
"This was a great course. The spanish words were a added
plus. I think it really made this course up to date, and is one of the
reasons I would recommend this course to others. The word associations
made it the easiest course I've ever taken."
"This was a very good course. A lot of information to intake and remember. Good materials to keep for future reference."
"This was my first online course. I didn't think I would do
well but I really did learn a lot. I enjoyed this course and have
already recommended it to my co-workers."
To purchase this course, click the Enroll Now button below:
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This
course teaches medical terminology from an anatomical approach. Root
terms are divided by each body system. The origin, a combined form, and
an example of non-medical everyday usage is provided for each root
term. Word Associations are provided as a learning tool. Unusual and
interesting information is provided in regards to each term. Root terms
are combined with prefixes and suffixes as your learning will culminate
in the interpretation of several paragraphs of medical notes.