1. Interpret and Apply Medical Terminology
BSBMED301B

2. Objectives
Respond appropriately to instructions containing medical terminology
Carry out routine tasks
Use appropriate terminology in oral and written communication with patients, fellow workers and other health professionals

3. Word analysis In a health setting, medical words are constantly used
You will learn to divide the words into parts, know the meaning of the parts and then use that knowledge to understand
The parts of a word are called the prefix, stem and suffix
The stem gives the meaning of the word
The suffix is the end of a word
The prefix is the beginning of a word
Combining vowel connects stems and suffixes and stems to other stems

4. Word analysis An example is haematology, which has 3 parts
Haemat- (stem word)
O- (combining vowel)
Logy- (suffix)
Begin at the end of a word, called the suffix
All medical terms have suffixes
Our example was logy which means “study of”
Now look at the beginning of the word
Haemat means blood
The third part is “O” which has no meaning, but connects the start and end of the word
The word therefore means “the study of blood”

5. Word analysis Look at the term “electrocardiogram”
“electr” is the stem and means electricity
“o” is the combing vowel
“cardi” is also a stem word and means heart
“o” is another combining vowel
“gram” is a suffix and means record

6. Word analysis Start with the suffix, “gram”, meaning record
Look at the beginning, “electr”, which means electricity. This is a stem word and a prefix
This word has 2 stem words the second is “cardi”, meaning heart
The word means a record of the electricity in the heart
Notice 2 combining vowels, if you find the vowel, this helps to divide the word into parts

7. Word analysis Break down the word “gastroenterology”
“gastr” is both a prefix and a stem word and means stomach
“O” is a combining vowel
“enter” is a stem word that means intestines
“O” is another combining vowel
“logy” is a suffix and means study of
The word means the study of the stomach and intestines

8. Activities
Break these words down, state the prefix, stem and suffix and meaning of the word
Gastroscope
Enteritis
Cytology
Dermatitis
Erythrocyte
haematoma

9. Word analysis
The suffix “ic” means pertaining to and when used the combining vowel is dropped. Words ending in “ic” are adjectives .
Examples are “gastric” which means relating to the stomach and “cephalic” which means relating to the head
Sometimes “ac” is used and this also means pertaining to
An example would be “cardiac”, relating to the heart

10. Word analysis
The suffix “itis” means inflammation or infection again the combining vowel is dropped when this is used
An example is the word “enteritis”, which means inflammation of the intestines
Look at the word “gastroenteritis”. The combining vowel “o” stays, but because the suffix begins with a vowel, the second “o” is dropped

11. Word analysis
The prefix is the part of the word that is attached to the beginning
This can change the meaning of a word to indicate things such as position, size, colour
Sub gastric means below the stomach
Transgastric means across the stomach
Retrogastric means behind the stomach

12. Word analysis Remember
Read from the suffix to the beginning and then across the word
Drop the combining vowel before a suffix that starts with a vowel
Use dictionaries and always ask!

13. Activities
In the following slides, work out the final meanings of the medical terms.....

14. Activities Combining form meaning term Aden/o gland
Adenoma, oma means tumour or mass
Arthr/o
joint
Arthritis, itis is inflammation
Bi/o
life
Biology, ology is study of
Biopsy, opsy means to view
Carcin/o
cancer
carcinoma
Cardi/o
heart
cardiology
Cephal/o
head
Cephalic, ic means relating to
Cerebr/o
Part of brain
Cerebral, al means relating to
Cyst/o
Urinary bladder
Cystoscope, scope means instrument to view
Cyt/o
cell
cytology
Dermat/o
skin
dermatitis
Electr/o
electricity
Electrocardiogram, gram means record
Enter/o
intestine
enteritis

15. Activities Combining form meaning term Erythr/o red
Erythrocyte, cyte means cell
Gastr/o
stomach
Gastroscopy, scopy means instrument that views
Gnos/o
knowledge
Diagnosis, sis means the state of, dia means complete
Gynaec/o
Woman, female
gynaecology
Haemat/o
blood
Haematoma, oma means mass or tumor
Hepat/o
liver
hepatitis
Lapar/o
abdomen
Laparotmy,tomy means incision

16. Activities Combining form meaning term Leuk/o white leucocyte Nephr/o
kidney
Nephrectomy, ectomy means to cut out
Onc/o
tumor
Oncologist, ist means specialist
Opthalm/o
eye
opthalmoscope
Oste/o
bone
osteoarthritis
Path/o
disease
pathologist
Psych/o
mind
Psychosis, osis means abnormal condition
Ren/o
Renal, al is relating to
Rhin/o
nose
Rhinitis

17. Activities Combining form meaning term Sarc/o flesh sarcoma Thromb/o
clotting
thrombocyte