Introduction to Health Science

MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY

&ANATOMICAL POSITIONS

LANGUAGE OBJECTIVES

• Students will learn how medical terms are put together using prefixes, suffixes and rootwords.

• Students will identify and draw the ways to divide the body

• Students will label the drawing used to divide the body with directional terms.

A Whole New Language

• Health care workers use medical terminology and abbreviations in their work every day.

• It is the professional language that helps them communicate effectively and quickly.

Medical Abbreviations

• Shortened forms of words.• An efficient way of communicating quickly and

concisely with other health care workers.• Always use standard abbreviations.• Never use an abbreviation if you are unsure

about its meaning.

Medical Abbreviations

• There is a growing trend toward eliminating periods from most abbreviations.

• Work with your health care facility to learn their policy regarding abbreviations and terminology.

• Sometimes abbreviations are used by themselves, other times they are combined together or with terms to give orders or directions.

EXAMPLE ABBREVIATION

• DNR• NPO• GSW• AIDS

Medical Symbols

• Some examples:– > greater than– < less than– higher, elevate, up– lower, down– # pound or number

– ‘ foot, minute– “ inch, second– ° degree– F female– M male

Medical Terminology

• Medical terms from prefixes, suffixes, and root words.– Prefix – a syllable or word placed at the beginning

of a word.– Suffix – a syllable or word placed at the end of a

word.• The meaning of the suffix is usually placed first when

the word is defined.• Word Root – main words or parts to which prefixes and

suffixes can be added.

EVERYDAY EXAMPLES

• Returned– Prefix = re- Latin meaning again– Root word = turn – Suffix = -ed forming the past tense of a

verb

Learning– Root word = Learn meaning acquiring

knowledge– Suffix = -ing expressing an action

THINK – PAIR - SHARE

• Think of two words that use a prefix, a suffix and a rootword.

• Turn to your neighbor and share the two words you thought of.

• I will ask each group to share one word with the class

Medical Terminology• When prefixes, suffixes, and/or word roots are

joined together, vowels are frequently added. – Examples: a, e, i, ia, io, o, and u.– Combining vowels make it easier to pronounce the

term.

• There is always at least one word root, and sometimes more than one.

Creating Medical Terms

a. Create a word meaning “inflammation of a joint.”b. arthr/o is the root word that means joint.c. -itis is the suffix that means inflammation.d. Since -itis begins with a vowel, no additional vowel

on the root word will be needed, in this case the vowel will be dropped.

e. The medical word is arthritis.

Creating Med Terms

a. Create a word meaning “white (blood) cell”b. leuko is the root word that means white.c. -cyte is the suffix that means cell.d. leuko is the stem with the vowel.e. The medical word is leukocyte.

How to Use Medical Terminology

• A patients’ complaint of “pain in the stomach” can mean many different things.

• After making a diagnosis, health care workers must be able to understand exactly what the problem is.

Using Medical Terminology• What are some of the conditions (using proper

medical terminology) that could correspond to a “pain in the stomach”?

How to Use Medical Terminology

• Gastritis• Hepatitis• Appendicitis• Pancreatitis• Gastralgia• Ileitis• Colitis• Diverticulitis

Pain in the Stomach?

Pronunciation

• Hints:– ch sounds like k.• Chyme, Cholecystectomy, Chronic

– ps sounds like s.• Psychiatric, Psychology, Psoriasis

– pn sounds like n.• Pneumonia, Pneumatic

– c sounds like a soft s when it comes before e, i, and y.• Cycle, Cytoplasm, Centrifuge

Pronunciation– g sounds like j when it comes before e, i, and y.• Giant, Gestation, Generic, Gyration

– i sounds like “eye” when added to the end of a word to form a plural.• Glomeruli, Villi, Alveoli, Bacilli

Medical Terminology• When you learn the common prefixes,

suffixes, and word roots, you have the tools to combine hundreds of medical terms.

UNIT 1 ROOT WORDS

• Therm/o- heat• Cry/o- cold• Arthro-joint• Cardi/o- Heart• Gastr/o - Stomach• Crani/o- skull• Rhin/o- nose• Bi/o- life• Caud/o- tail• Cephal/o- head• Thorac/o – Thoracic• Umbilic/o – umbilicus/

navel

• Erythr/o- red• Leuk/o- white• Cyan/o- Blue• Melan/o- Black• Xanth/o – yellow• Chloro- green• Abdomino/o- abdomen• Cervic/o – neck• Inguin/o- groin• Pelv/i, or pelv/o – pelvis• Spin/o – spine• My/o – muscle• Surgic/o - surgery

UNIT 1 PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES

• Hyper – above or excess

• Hypo – below• Epi – upon• a- /an – without• Pre – before• Pro – before, in front

of, for/good• Anti-against • Sym/syn – together• Contra –

opposite/against

• -osis - condition• -ectomy – surgical

removal• -rrhea - flow or

discharge• -itis - inflammation• -cyte – cell• - oma - tumor• - ology - study of• -megaly – enlargement• - algia – pain• -dynia – pain• -ic, -al, -ar, -tic –

pertaining to

POSITIONAL TERMS

• The anatomical position is of importance in anatomy because it is the position of reference for anatomical nomenclature

“Pinterest link”

What is it?

The anatomical position is:“the universal accepted

starting point used to describe or analyze anatomical terms or movement.”To be in correct anatomical position, the body must meet 3 criteria:

1. Upright, standing position

2. Face and feet pointing forward

3. Arms at the side, palms facing forward

But how do we use the anatomical position to describe direction and planes?

Anatomical Planes

Frontal/Coronal

-relate to positions in space and found at right angles to each other

-these planes can be positioned on specific parts of the body

-vertical; splits the body into front and back halvesSagittal/Mid-

sagittal-vertical; splits the body into left and right halves

Transverse/Horizontal

-splits the body into upper and lower halves

BODY CAVITIES

ABDOMINAL QUADRANTS

QUADRANTS ORGANS

RUQ• Liver• Gallbladder• R. Kidney

LUQ• Stomach• Pancreas• Spleen• L. Kidney

RLQ• Cecum (junction

between intestines)• Appendix• R. Ovary

LLQ• L. Ovary

UNIT 1 POSITIONAL TERMS

• Frontal• Superior• Inferior• Anterior• Posterior• Medial• Lateral• Distal• Proximal

BODY POSITION TERMINOLOGY

THE FOLLOWING TERMS WILL BECOME LIKE A SECOND LANGUAGE FOR YOU. THESE TERMS ARE USED TO DESCRIBE POSITION OF THE BODY AND WILL BE USED EXTENSIVELY WHEN WE TALK ABOUT MUSCLES AND BONES

MEDIAL- TOWARDS THE MIDLINE(CENTER) OF THE BODY

LATERAL- AWAY FROM THE MIDLINE OF THE BODY

SUPERIOR- TOWARDS THE TOP OF THE BODY (CRANIAL)

INFERIOR- TOWARDS THE BOTTOM OF THE BODY (CAUDAL)

Superficial - on or close to the surface of the body

Deep - farther away from the surface of the body Distal- situated

farthest from the point of attachment

Anterior- towards the front of the body (ventral)

Posterior- towards the back of the body (dorsal)

Proximal- situated closest to the point of attachment