UNDERSTANDING THE LANGUAGE OF MEDICINE

OBJECTIVES

This core curriculum - "Understanding the Language of Medicine" - offers you a well tested learning system consisting of three parts:

The TEXT will teach you the practical core knowledge needed to help you understand medical terms.

The EXERCISES will reinforce and expand what you have learned from studying the text, by showing you how the terms are actually used in clinical* practice.

The ILLUSTRATIONS let you see how an anatomical term relates to other body structures and their functions.

AS A WHOLE it is a thoroughly researched core curriculum, that will help you not only to know the most frequently used medical terms, but also to understand their meaning for the patients concerned and the physicians caring for them.

By studying systematically you will:

1. see why a specialized language is needed in Medicine;

2. become aware of the prominent characteristics of medical terms and see the logic of medical language;

3. learn to use prefixes, suffixes and word roots of the English language to interpret new and even complex medical terms;

4. be able to recognize the basic original meaning of medical word elements, see the comparison behind the term to something known, and understand their applications in a great variety of situations;

5. acquire a practical medical core vocabulary of terms most frequently used in clinical practice, so as to understand physicians' discussions or reports and medical texts of moderate complexity;

6. be introduced to many clinical concepts expressed by medical terms.

* The word "clinical" means "pertaining to bedside care of the sick" or to direct patient care. (Gr. kline = bed, bedside; compare to Engl. "recline")