Learning Medical Transcription

Learning Medical Terminology – Not As Difficult As You Think.

If you’ve been thinking about becoming a medical transcriptionist but aren’t sure what’s involved, then this column gives you a few basics to help you start learning medical terminology.

Medical Terminology – The Basics

In order to transcribe medical dictations you’ll need a good understanding of medical terminology.  Once you learn a few rules and practice medical terminology isn’t too difficult to learn.

Here’s an example:

Medical Word – Dermatitis

Dermato is the combining form of the word (which in simple terms means it contains and “O”) and is the prefix (first part of the word). 

Dermato – Means skin

Itis is the suffix of the word (last part).

Itis – Means inflammation.

Therefore when you combine this word you write the prefix and the suffix to form the word dermatitis (you drop the combining O). 

Dermatitis means inflammation of the skin.

Once you memorize the different prefixes and suffixes and what they mean then it’s as simple as putting them both together to learn the meaning of the word.

Here’s another example:

Tonsillitis

Tonsill – you guessed it, means tonsils and I’m sure you know where those are J

Itis – again means inflammation.

Tonsillitis – Means inflammation of the tonsils.

It’s simple once you understand the formula, which is memorizing your prefixes and suffixes and then putting them together to form a variety of new and interesting medical terms.

Here’s another tip that really helped me learned medical terminology.  Make flashcards of all the different prefixes and suffixes (you’ll learn these during your course).  Then everyday simply look through your flashcards reading each different meaning one time.  Once you get to the end of the stack put your flashcards away.

It should only take about 5 to 10 minutes max for you to get through your stack of flashcards.  If you do this once every few hours you’ll memorize all your meanings in no time.