Much like anatomy and physiology, learning medical terminology is not something you can summarize in one simple video.
You’ll need to know your ectomies from your otomies (as you’ve probably already seen in the prior courses), and it’s very helpful to familiarize yourself with the common prefixes and suffixes common to the medical vocabulary.
Download the ebook or accompanying powerpoint to review tables that can help you brush up on your prefixes and suffixes.
| Prefix | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Ambi- | Both | Ambidextrous |
| Aniso- | Unequal | Anisocytosis |
| Dys- | Bad, painful, difficult | Dyslexia |
| Eu- | Good, normal | Eukaryote |
| Hetero- | Different | Heterogeneous |
| Homo- | Same | Homogeneous |
| Hyper- | Excessive, above | Hypertension |
| Hypo- | Lack, below | Hypoglycemic |
| Iso- | Equal, same | Isotope |
| Mal- | Bad, poor | Malnutrition |
| Megalo- | Large | Megalomania |
| Suffix | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -algia | Pain | Myalgia |
| -asthenia | Weakness (may also be a standalone term) | Neurocirculatory asthenia |
| -emia | Blood | Hypoglycemia |
| -iasis | Condition of | Elephantiasis |
| -itis | Inflammation | Bronchitis |
| -lysis | Destruction, break down | Dialysis |
| -lytic | Destroy, break down | Hydrolytic |
| -oid | Like | Haploid |
| -oma | Tumor | Fibroma |
| -opathy | Disease of | Neuropathy |
| -orrhagia | Hemorrhage | Metrorrhagia |
| -orrhea | Flow or discharge | Diarrhea |
| -osis | Abnormal condition of | Tuberculosis |
| -paresis | Slight paralysis | Hemiparesis |
| -plasia | Growth | Achondroplasia |
| -plegia | Paralysis | Quadraplegia |
| -pnea | Breathing | Sleep apnea |
Here’s a list of suffixes common to surgical procedures:
| Suffix | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -centesis | Puncture a cavity to remove fluid | Amniocentesis |
| -ectomy | Surgical removal or excision | Hysterectomy |
| -ostomy | A new permanent opening | Tracheostomy |
| -otomy | Cutting into, incision | Gastrotomy |
| -orrhaphy | Surgical repair or suture | Gastrorrhaphy |
| -opexy | Surgical fixation | Nephropexy |
| -oplasty | Surgical repair | Rhinoplasty |
| -otripsy | Crushing or destroying | Lithotripsy |
By knowing your medical prefixes and suffixes, you’ll have a much easier time navigating complicated medical terminology. If you know the root word and the suffix, you already know the procedure. For instance, an orchiectomy is the removal of a testicle. “Orchi” is testes, and an “-ectomy” is a surgical removal. Yikes.
Still, this course won’t be enough to prepare you for the CPC exams question on medical terminology. We recommend taking either an outside medical terminology and/or anatomy and physiology course before you take the CPC exam.
It’s also not a bad idea to look at some online flash cards. There are dozens of different flash card sets out there, and most are entirely free. Don’t use these as your primary method of learning medical terminology, but they’re a good resource if you’re looking for a way to brush up.