Understanding Medical Terminology for EMTs

Mar 20, 2025

Chapter 5: Medical Terminology Lecture

Objectives

  • Use foundational anatomical medical terms and abbreviations in communication.
  • Understand purpose and components of medical terminology.
  • Define unknown medical terms through dissection and understanding of components.
  • Identify error-prone medical abbreviations and acronyms.
  • Learn common directional, movement, and positional terms.

Importance for EMTs

  • Essential for effective communication and documentation.
  • Helps in understanding key terms, symbols, and abbreviations.
  • Facilitates communication with EMS, healthcare, and public safety teams.

Anatomy of Medical Terminology

  • Components of Medical Terms: Four parts - word root, prefix, suffix, and combining vowels.
    • Word Root: Foundation of the word, often indicates a body part.
    • Prefix: Appears before the word root, describes location or intensity.
    • Suffix: Placed at the end, indicates procedure, condition, disease, or part of speech.
    • Combining Vowels: Connects word roots to suffixes or other roots, usually 'o'.
  • Accurate Spelling: Essential as similar-sounding terms can have different meanings (e.g., phasea vs. phagia).

Word Building Rules

  • Prefix: Always at the beginning.
  • Suffix: Always at the end.
  • Combining Vowel: Used when suffix begins with a consonant or between two word roots.

Plural Endings

  • Singular to plural changes:
    • Ends in 'a' -> 'ae'
    • Ends in 'is' -> 'es'
    • Ends in 'ex'/'ix' -> 'ices'
    • Ends in 'um' -> 'a'
    • Ends in 'us' -> 'i'

Special Word Parts

  • Indicating Numbers: Prefixes like uni-, di-, bi-.
  • Colors: Roots like cyano-, leuco-.
  • Positions/Directions: Prefixes like ab-, ad-, circum-, trans-.

Directional Terms

  • Patient's Right/Left: Not the observer's perspective.
  • Superior/Inferior: Towards head/towards feet.
  • Lateral/Medial: Away from/more towards midline.
  • Proximal/Distal: Closer to/farther from trunk.
  • Superficial/Deep: Closer to/on skin/farther inside.
  • Ventral/Dorsal: Belly/spinal side (anterior/posterior).
  • Palmar/Plantar: Palm of hand/sole of foot.

Movement Terms

  • Flexion/Extension: Bending/straightening of joints.
  • Adduction/Abduction: Moving towards/away from midline.

Body Part Descriptions

  • Bilateral: Appears on both sides of midline.
  • Unilateral: Appears on one side.

Patient Positions

  • Prone: Lying face down.
  • Supine: Lying face up.
  • Fowler's Position: Semi-reclining, head elevated.
  • Semi-Fowler's Position: 45-degree angle.
  • High-Fowler's Position: 90-degree angle.

Examples of Term Dissection

  • Nephropathy: Disease of the kidney.
  • Dysuria: Painful urination.
  • Hyperemesis: Excessive vomiting.
  • Analgesic: Pertaining to no pain.

Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Symbols

  • Developed for faster communication.
  • Use only commonly understood and medically accepted ones.
  • Authorities: Joint Commission, Institute of Safe Medicine Practices.

Review Questions

  • Essential meaning of medical term: Word Root.
  • Prefixes indicate: Colors, Numbers, Positions, Directions.
  • Plural form of bronchus: Bronchi.
  • Superior indicates closer to the: Head.
  • Movement towards midline: Adduction.
  • Medial describes: Closer to midline.
  • Ventral refers to: Belly/Anterior surface.
  • Semi-Fowler's: 45-degree sitting angle.
  • Plantar surface: Sole of the foot.
  • EMTs should use abbreviations: All of the above (familiar, accepted, and for documentation).

This summary encapsulates the key points from the Chapter 5 Medical Terminology lecture and serves as a guide for understanding and applying medical terms effectively in professional healthcare settings.