The Language of Healthcare: 5 Online Tools That Will Help You Learn Medical Terminology

November 28, 2013

Starting your education in the Allied Health field can be a daunting task. One of the first classes many students take focuses exclusively on medical terminology. While this might not sound like a challenge, you might be responsible for learning hundreds and hundreds of words over the course of a semester.

Memorization at this volume requires solid study skills and habits. This article provides you with several online resources that can help make your foray into medical terminology more bearable. These resources can play a key role in your study methods and, ultimately, in your success as a medical professional. Take a look and see what suits your needs!

Des Moines University Medical Terminology Online

This online resource isn't meant to be a full replacement for a medical terminology course, but it does lay out a 300-word foundation for anyone interested in studying medical terminology in the future or for people who simply want to brush up on their medical lingo. It offers twelve distinct vocabulary groups which cover anatomical terminology as well as common Latin and Greek prefixes, suffixes, and roots. Understanding the prefixes, suffixes, and roots can help you deconstruct new words that you haven't learned yet.

To reinforce what you are learning, there are review quizzes available at the end of each chapter. Explanations and anecdotes for certain words and roots make these modules particularly useful and engaging. This site is ideal for someone who wants to study the concepts before attempting a full academic class, or an allied health student who needs to brush up on terms before starting classes at the beginning of the school year.

Medical Terminology units on Quizlet

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Quizlet is a useful resource for students of all disciplines and levels. It lets users create sets of digital flash cards and share them online. The link above is the result of searching for 'medical terminology' in Quizlet's search bar; the top results are mostly from one particular user who has grouped them by letter.

Studying these lists together, you'll be able to work through hundreds of words. If you have a particular list you're looking to study, you can create a set of custom digital cards on Quizlet. The site is a great tool for current terminology students, who either want to study specific chapters or benefit from a comprehensive review.

Nurseslabs.com Medical Abbreviations Cheat Sheet

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Maybe you have your terms down, but abbreviations and acronyms throw you for a loop. This cheat sheet is a great reference guide to use alongside class materials. It's very useful if you are making physical flash cards. While you're there, nurseslabs.com has a lot of other study materials that you may also find helpful. Take a look at the articles filed under “Fundamentals of Nursing,” and you'll find useful articles on a variety of healthcare related subjects.

Pinterest board search!

You might know Pinterest as the site where you find quirky new recipes or where brides plan their dream weddings, but it can also be an incredibly useful study tool. A number of students and health professionals regularly blog, tweet, and post about their academic and professional lives. Using Pinterest's search feature, you can find a number of resources related to medical terminology.

On Pinterest, you'll find videos, pictures, audio, text, and any number of other links to learning resources that'll help you on your quest to master medical terminology. It wouldn't be a bad idea to start your own board and keep track of the study resources you find most useful. This will organize the resources so you can have them on call throughout the semester. Pinterest is great if you want to search for new study tools and practices, and keep ideas that work for you in one place.

MedicineNet.com medical dictionary

This type of reference material is best when you encounter a term you've never seen before or can't locate in a textbook. The MedTerm medical dictionary includes over 16,000 medical terms. You won't necessarily use it as a study guide, but it can serve as a wonderful reference guide when used in conjunction with other study materials.